Secrets & Lies
by Moonview
Summary: Several Years ago, a Guardian escaped the fall of the Tower. Fleeing to Earth he hid from his enemies as a Garrison Cadet, swearing never to use his power again. However, the universe had other plans. Getting dragged out into space for a new war, he must finish this one and the one he ran from all those years ago. Destiny 2 X VLD.
1. The Crash

Chapter 1

**A/N: Voltron: legendary Defender and Destiny xover. I've finally worked up the nerve to post this story after seeing a similar one: ****_Fire Guardian_**** by ****_Safire 19_****, great story, I recommend it.**

**So a bit of background: in this story Terra and Earth are different planets, close to each other, but not the same solar system. The Guardians were classified by the Garrison and other Earth governments but were well known throughout the rest of the galaxy/universe. I just decided to keep the Reef in Earth's system, and the Tangled Shore is the second location in Terra's system. The Awoken are also a separate alien race rather than descendants from Humans.**

**This takes place after the start of Destiny 2 and at the start of Voltron S1. I am changing things from the regular Destiny and Voltron storyline for this story, some changes will be minor, others will be a lot bigger. In example: I am also making it where Guardians can have kids, and these kids can be chosen by a ghost to become a Guardian. **

**_Don't like it, not my problem, guess what it's fanfiction, it's about imagination. _**

**I am going to try to follow the seasons to give more background and insight into the differences in this xover, but I will be incorporating different parts that weren't in the series & the further into the story we go, the bigger the changes may get. We'll see.**

**I am also going to be using some languages I have found online for the various alien languages seen in both series and, unfortunately, I do not have accurate translations of all of them. I checked, and the largest Destiny translation had only about 87 known words. So, I apologize right now if some languages seem different in here than what they are in the game and in the show.**

**I just own the story, and the OCs I have added.**

**Enjoy!**

Five figures stood on Pluto's moon, Kerberos watching as two men were carefully pulling an ice sample out. "Easy son, this ice is delicate," Commander Samuel Holt instructed observing as his son began removing the core.

"Amazing isn't it Shiro?"

"You guys get a little more excited about ice samples than I do," the Japanese man smiled as the Awoken woman next to him rolled her eyes.

"What about you Jaz?" Matt winked.

"I prefer flying fighters thank you very much, why I was chosen for this mission I'll never know," she stated crossing her arms.

"Because Shiro needed a copilot?" Matt suggested and she flipped him off. "It was most likely to keep appearances you know, to show that the Reef interacts with us more than with just trade."

"Touché."

The commander ignored them as he admired the sample. "This is history in the making. Not only have we traveled further than anyone in our system ever has. But this ice sample could lead to clues about life outside our solar system."

"Think about it we could be the first people to meet aliens," Matt boasted.

"What? Darvah and I aren't enough for you?" Jaz questioned motioning to the Eliksni engineer currently typing on two separate boards recording data."

"Well, unless your mother wants to disclose anything about your spaceflight abilities and that you have in fact left the solar system and thus confirming my conspiracy theories, then you guys lost your cool factor after the first hundred years," he stated earning a scalding glare and a growl from the woman as the four-armed engineer used one of his hands to flip Matt off—which was an impressive feat for a being whose species had only three fingers per hand. "Speaking of conspiracies! What happened to Prince Uldren? I heard a rumor that he went completely nuts around the time the Queen mysteriously vaninshed?"

"Commander Holt! Scanners are picking up something!" Darvah called as the ground began to shake.

"Seismic activity?" Commander Holt asked as they joined him in analyzing the data.

"No, that!" he pointed to a large ship entering the area.

"Everyone back to the ship!"

The tractor beam activated and all five blacked out as they were yanked off their feet.

-.-

"Eyrolul Zarkon, to tolo ntuwraml nbnroy X-9-Y en uldolod twom to auwmd rwono rlayararo ntaomranrn," were the first words Shiro heard as he regained consciousness.

Remembering what happened he shot up and looked to either side of him, Matt and Sam were still out cold, Jaz was regaining consciousness, and Darvah's four glowing red eyes were narrowed in a hateful glare as he occasionally struggled against the several guards restraining the biggest member of the crew.

"I dum'r rwamp rwob pmut embrwaml wnoaws."

The dark form on the screen their captor was speaking to narrowed his glowing eyes. "Tepo rwoy vetp ru rwo yeahm asoor aul amrolluleraum. Two dlwadn tass aamd uwr twer rwob pmut."

"Please! We come from peaceful planets! We mean you no harm!" Shiro pleaded ignoring Darvah's warning look. "We're unarmed."

Darvah and Jaz winced as a guard slammed the butt of his gun against their comrade's head, knocking him out.

"Tepo rwoy ru rwo vlal," their captor ordered and the guards dragged the five away.

Coming to, Shiro looked up from where he was being dragged to see Sam, Matt, and Jaz being pushed forwards by a single sentry as two took the four-armed Eliskni behind them. Hearing whispers, he saw prisoners peering out to stare.

Passing a window, they just saw endless rows of cells.

-.-

**_A year later_**_._

Keith sat waiting on one of his sparrows on the edge of a cliff watching the skies warily.

"What do you think the carvings in those caves were signaling towards?" his ghost asked floating up next to his head, glancing to his Guardian nervously.

"Don't know, hopefully something that can get us off this rock so we can find the Kerberos team."

"We could just use our own ship," he replied.

The young man raised an eyebrow as he looked to his partner. "I thought you were against that plan, Yorak?"

"Well, that's when I started picking up those mysterious signals out in the desert, though I still say we need to find the source."

"We've had a year and found nothing, I don't think the Kerberos team can wait anymore, especially not if they were captured," Keith stated tying a bandana over the lower half of his face.

"Who do you think would've captured them…you don't think…?" Yorak trailed off.

"The Cabal aren't known for taking prisoners and the footage Petra's spy equipment retrieved would've shown the foot soldiers, Cabal don't use tractor beams in terrestrial combat. Not to mention I and any other Guardian hiding in this sector, would've received an alert."

"But…everyone else, I don't think they went to the Shard before Terra's evacuation, they might not have their powers back like we do."

"Even with our diminished numbers we could still fight, remember Dad's fireteam? They killed Crota and Oryx and there was only six of them, same with the fireteam who entered the Black Garden, the Vault of Glass, the Iron Temple, should I continue? Not to mention all of those missions were in restriction zones."

"True but—incoming! Five-o-clock, twenty-degrees up!" he said disappearing.

Following his ghost's instructions, Keith looked up to see the ball of fire entering the atmosphere and crashing into the ground. "Let's go," he said activating his speeder, whirling it around, he shot towards the crash site.

Turning to a stop, he zoomed in with his helmet. _"Garrison has already hit the crash site."_

"We'll need to set up the bombs if we want to get in," Keith said. Starting up the sparrow again, he shot through the canyons down towards the flats, dropping inactivated bombs as he went. Leaning right, he spun it around heading for the opposite side of the valley from where he dropped the bombs.

"Yorak switch Quick Death out for the modified Racer-01!" Keith ordered.

_"__Acknowledged,"_ he said as the sparrows switched under Keith, the black sparrow being replaced for a larger, older red and white Earth hoverbike he and his dad had speant some time modifying before he returned to Terra a few years ago to handle the Red War.

Driving up behind some rocks, Keith could see that in the period he'd been driving, the Garrison had time to set up a quarantine facility. "Yorak! What do you see?"

_"__Our targets are inside, one armed guard, three to four medtechs,"_ he said, _"Bombs activated and set to go off in three, two, one—"_

Several explosions rocked the valley, and Keith smirked as he saw the guards racing towards their vehicles to investigate.

"Let's go!" he said driving full speed towards a rock near the tent.

Stopping behind it, he jumped off the sparrow, he grabbed his knife and raced inside.

The doors opened, revealing three rather surprised med-techs. "Hey!" one said lunging at him, before Keith punched him, holding back a lot of force so he wouldn't accidently crush the skull. The other two lunged and he hurled one over the table and slammed the other into the wall, knocking them out cold. Pulling off the bandana, he jogged over to see who was it that crashed.

"Shiro?" he gasped in shock, taking a step back. The man's forelock had turned white, he was paler like he hadn't seen the sun for some time, his arm had been replaced, and there was a large scar crossing his nose, but nonetheless it was still easy to identify his friend.

Pulling out his knife from its sheath and quickly cutting the restraints. Looking over to the other cot he saw a familiar Awoken woman with light blue skin and bright azure hair that now fell messily past her shoulders, when it had once been barely long enough to pull into a short ponytail. Like Shiro's hair, there was a silvery streak in the mess of brilliant blue. "Jaz?"

Going over he cut her bonds as well. Now he just needed a way to get both out of here quickly.

"No! Nope, no, no, no you don't. I'm saving Shiro and Jaz!" another boy said storming over as a tall dark-skinned teen and the small replica of Matt Holt that just had to be Katie stood behind him.

"Who are you?" Keith demanded.

"Who am I? The name's Lance."

_"__It's not ringing any bells on my end,"_ Yorak stated as he tried to remember who this guy was,

"We were in the same class at the Garrison," he tried again.

_"…__Did that weird Taylor guy have a twin?"_

"You an engineer?" Keith asked trying to place him, most engineers were Fallen due to their dexterity and thick skin, but there were exceptions to the rule.

"No, I'm a pilot! We were rivals! You know, Lance and Keith, neck and neck!"

Oh, he was the idiot who insisted they were archnemeses for some reason. "Right, you're a cargo pilot," Keith grumbled tossing Lance an annoyed glare.

"Fighter now since you washed out."

"Congrats, you take Jaz, I've got him," Keith said as they started dragging the two pilots towards his sparrow.

Getting outside, Keith climbed on, as Lance helped hoist Shiro and Jaz up behind him as the tall boy and Katie climbed on, causing the sparrow to tip back.

"Will this thing be big enough to hold us?" Katie asked.

"No," Keith growled.

_"__Please, we'll be lucky to make it off the ground, sparrows have trouble carrying two, let alone six people!"_

Ignoring his ghost's comment, Keith started the engine and spun around, they needed to get away before the Garrison caught up, otherwise those three would be in serious trouble, Shiro would go back to the lab, and Keith and Yorak would be back under the strict scrutiny of the Garrison's Admiral Sanda.

That zihyt was determined to control all Human Guardians despite the fact they were not under her chain of command. In fact, even the lowest ranking Guardian outranked her. But then again, her thought process had always been: it's dangerous if it's not one of us.

It was a mindset that made all Guardians despise her and made them want to stay as far as possible. She would do _anything_ to ensure their compliance to her orders, of that Keith was certain.

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Lance demanded.

"We could get rid of some non-essential weight," Keith replied.

"Ok!" Lance said and Keith hoped for a moment that he would actually toss himself off. "Wait…that was an insult."

"Big guy! Lean left!" Keith ordered, and the sparrow swung over to a natural path going to a higher ledge.

"Mr. Harris just wiped out Professor Montgomery!"

_"__There's still two more on our tail, but I think we could lose them if we make that jump to the path across from us,"_ Yorak informed.

"Lean right!" Keith ordered and the big guy leaned right, allowing them to make the jump onto the other path as the last two Garrison vehicles chasing after.

_"__Still on our tail. My maps indicate the cliff up ahead, it'll be risky but if we'll need to make some adjustments to the rotors with all this extra weight."_

Keith smirked, that was all he needed to hear. "Uh…is that a cliff up ahead!" the big guy called.

"Yep," Keith replied, flooring it as the other three started screaming at the top of their lungs.

"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL!" Lance screamed as they flew off.

"Just trust me!" Keith snapped, before hitting the brakes, causing the rotors to swerve forwards and slow them down just before hitting the bottom, but still letting them retain enough velocity to speed away from the Garrison quickly.

Sighing in relief, Keith started heading towards the old house he called home, ignoring the three unwanted guests as they clung to his sparrow for dear life. His father had bought it Lord knows how long ago and the title to the house and the surrounding land in a ten-mile radius still belong to him. Not even the Garrison would dare trespass on a Guardian's territory.

Especially if they didn't know if his father left their pets before he left for Terra.

Pulling up, he winced as the back hit the ground with a clang as he shut off the engines, that was going to need some serious repair. Lance and Katie had already pulled the two pilots off and let Keith lead the way inside. He quickly tossed an empty soda can he left lying around to the cleaning bot he stole from the Tower when he was younger, before motioning to the master bedroom.

"Set Shiro and Jaz down there," he stated pointing towards the bed as he looked for some medical supplies he kept on hand, making sure to close the door leading to the office. "Get some rest, it'll be a while before whatever they knocked them out with wears off."

"Wait how come you get to help them!" Lance protested.

"My house, my rules, go in the living room or the guest room, and don't mess with J-47. I've taken plenty of medical courses, I can handle the rest," he snapped shoving them all out and slamming the door. "You can come out."

"Finally," Yorak said reappearing. Floating over, he began scanning Shiro.

"Well?"

"He has a mild concussion, most likely from the crash. His arm has also been replaced with a cybernetic, similar in structure to that of an Exo, however, I'm getting energy readings suggesting that this is a more weaponized version. There also appears to be numerous scarred injures. But otherwise he's fine, we just need to let the sedative run its course."

"And Jaz?"

"There's an abrasion on her right arm, she also appears to have sprained an ankle. There is scarring and bruising as well, but nowhere near as significant as Shiro's."

Keith nodded, putting the supplies up after disinfecting and wrapping Jaz's wounds before scrounging through his drawers. He found some of his dad's old clothes from when he took the civilian job shortly after their arrival on Earth. It looked like his dad's clothes could fit Shiro; even if they didn't fit right it would still be an improvement from the unitard.

Searching through a few more drawers, he was relieved to find an old red tank-top, torn jeans, a light tan jacket, and hiking boots that hopefully fit Jaz. Keith's father said the clothes were his mother's.

Setting the clothes down on the nightstand, he groaned, stretching his arms before getting out of his gear and putting on his red jacket, grey t-shirt, black jeans, and, red and white boots.

"You should get some rest Keith, I'll wake you when the drugs start wearing off," Yorak stated as his partner yawned.

"Fine," he sighed leaning back in the chair instead of going to his room, closing his eyes to appease his ghost.

He didn't mean to actually fall asleep.

**A/N: so…those of you who play Destiny, how about Forsaken, huh? I was honestly not expecting some of those parts they added in. Those of you who wished for a darker tone: I BLAME EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU FOR KILLING OFF MY FAVORITE VANGUARD!**

**And the Shadowkeep trailer?! OMG I'm excited! We're probably gonna die, but I'm excited! THE MOON'S HAUNTED!**

**Anyways, sorry for that, I'd like to hear what y'all think of this.**


	2. The Caves

Chapter 2

**A/N: once again, I just own this story, nothing else is mine.**

**_Flashbacks/Yorak talking just to Keith_**

**/Comm/**

Keith groaned as he woke up, his neck hurt from where he was slumped in the chair. Feeling something nudge his cheek, he saw Yorak floating next to him. "They're going to wake up soon."

"Thanks buddy," he said before his ghost vanished.

Getting up, he stretched, hearing several pops in his spine. With a yawn he walked towards the restroom, brushing out his teeth, before washing off whatever dirt remained on his face from last night's ride.

Hearing a groan, he walked back into his room to see Shiro waking up. "Ugh…where am I?" he slurred slowly sitting up to see Keith standing in the doorway. "Keith?"

"Hey, there's some clothes on the bed if you want to get out of…whatever that is," he said motioning to the pile he threw there last night. "Just, uh, come out whenever you're ready."

Walking out of the room, he closed the door and went into the small kitchen, seeing what he had to make for breakfast. There was still some jerky from one of the antelope he managed to hunt down during one of his longer sparrow trips, that might be enough for everyone?

Guess he should be thankful he didn't decide to go rabbit hunting last week. Taking two strips out, he stuck one in his mouth, saving the other for Shiro, before taking the bag and tossing it on the table in the small living room where the three surprise guests were starting to wake up.

"Huh?" the big guy groaned sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Food," Keith said walking back into the kitchen, where he saw Shiro quietly walking out the door to probably watch the sunrise.

_"__Maybe we should give him a minute?" _Yorak suggested.

Keith gave a quiet sigh. "Probably," he said picking up the jerky, "but he at least needs to eat first." Walking outside, he smiled slightly as he saw his friend standing on the small hill next to his cabin, watching the first signs of dawn appear on the horizon. Going up to him, Keith placed a hand on Shiro's shoulder, not failing to notice the way he tensed. "Hungry?"

"Yeah, thanks," Shiro said taking the jerky.

The pair stood in silence, watching the sunrise and eating jerky. Swallowing his last bit. Keith looked back to Shiro. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back, Kami-sama, I can't remember the last time I had real food," he chuckled taking another bite of the jerky.

"Never thought I'd hear you say jerky was real food," Keith chuckled, "…So, uh, what happened out there? Where were you?"

_"__KEITH?! Pushy much?!"_

"I wish I could tell you," Shiro apologized rubbing his head, "My head's still pretty scrambled…I was on some alien ship, but somehow Jaz and I managed to escape…most of it's still pretty fuzzy. She might remember more. How'd you know to find me when I crashed?"

Keith motioned back to the house. "You need to see this."

Walking back inside, they found the others awake, eating the rest of the jerky Keith had—though Katie was trying to mess with the cleaning drone. Going into the office, he unveiled the map, the photos, and all his notes about the signal and the carvings he and Yorak had stumbled upon during a training exercise on the wall.

"What have you been working on?" Shiro gasped, seeing all the detailed notes in a variety of languages—most of which he didn't even recognize—almost filling the board beside the images.

"After I got booted from the Garrison, I was kinda…lost, and I just got drawn back out here. There was some signal my stuff kept picking up. I don't know…it was like—like something was telling me to search."

"For what?"

"I wasn't sure till I stumbled on this area," Keith stated pointing at a section of the map he had circled and attached numerous strings of photos and notes to. "It's this large rock formation filled with caves that are covered in ancient carvings of a Blue Lion. The stories in each were slightly different, but I managed to piece together clues leading to some event that would happen last night. Then you crashed."

Shiro nodded before turning to the other three occupants in the small room. "I should thank you all for getting me out. Lance, right?" he asked holding out his prosthetic arm.

Lance nodded, hesitating for a moment before shaking his hand.

Shiro turned to Katie and the big guy, holding out his hand. "The shy guy's Hunk, I'm Pidge," she said taking his hand, "so did anyone else from your crew make it?"

_"__Why is she going by a different name? Is it cause we helped her hack Iverson's computer?"_

"Probably," Keith hissed quietly.

"—I remember the mission and being captured, but after that it's all a blur," Shiro apologized.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the aliens. Where are they now? Are they coming? Are they coming for us? Where are they right now?" Hunk asked quickly, the poor guy looking like he was about to faint.

Shiro frowned and looked down. "I…can't remember, but I do remember they're looking for something called 'Voltron.' I don't know why, but I guess it must be some WMD. Whatever it is, we need to find it before they do."

"Well, last night I was going through Pidge's stuff and I found a picture of his girlfriend," Hunk said whipping out the photo of Katie and her brother and Pidge snatched it, shoving it into bag.

"What were you doing in my stuff?!" she demanded.

"Looking for a candy bar, then I started reading his diary—"

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed snatching it back.

"Anyways, I noticed a repeating series of numbers the aliens were searching for, looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line."

"Fraun-who?" Keith questioned.

_"__It must be some ancient method of scanning?"_ Yorak suggested.

"It's the number describing the emission spectrum of an element," Hunk informed before continuing.

_"__So I was right! …Sorta."_

"…only this element doesn't exist on Earth. I thought it might be this Voltron thing, and I think I can build a machine to look for it."

"Hunk! You big gassy genius!" Lance praised.

"It's pretty fascinating, the wave length looks like this," Hunk said pulling out a piece of paper with what resembled a graph on it.

_"__Keith! That's just like what we saw in the rocks!"_

"Give me that!" Keith said, wanting to see if Yorak was right. Lifting the graph next to the photo of the rock formations he took.

_"__It's almost an exact match. The rocks cause a few minute differences; however, I can safely say this is related to what we've been looking for."_

"How long will it take you to build that device?" Keith questioned.

"A few minutes."

"Good, as soon as you're done we're going."

They all heard a groan and turned to see Jaz rubbing her head in the doorway. "Did anyone get the name the Knight that hit me? Because we need to have another chat."

-.-

They took the sparrow out to the canyons where they found the formations, hopping off they walked out to where Keith snapped the pic of the rocks as Katie and Hunk held the scanner.

"Ok, I'll admit, this is super freaky," Lance said.

_"__He thinks this is freaky?_" Yorak scoffed.

Keith had to prevent himself from rolling his eyes, no need to look like he was insane, though it could just look like he was rolling his eyes at Lance's stupid comment.

"I got something," Hunk said leading the way around one of the formations.

_"__He's heading straight for the caves."_

"So we were right," Keith whispered.

"Did you say something?" Shiro asked looking over at him as they trailed after Hunk and Katie…or Pidge as she seemed to be going by right now.

"Oh, uh, the caves I was telling y'all about are right up ahead," he covered as they made their way to one of the entrances.

"Whoa."

"What are these?" Shiro asked.

"These are the carvings I mentioned, they run all over these cave systems," he stated as Lance walked over to one.

_"__Keith! I'm detecting a surge in—!"_ Yorak was cut off as all the carvings around them began glowing blue.

The ground under them shook, before giving out completely, sending them tumbling down a natural underground waterfall.

Rolling to his back, Keith slid down facing where he was going, and he could glimpse Shiro doing the same out of the corner of his eye, in front of them Lance was fumbling about screaming next to Jaz who remained positioned like Keith and Shiro, and Pidge and Hunk were screaming their heads off behind them.

The tube spat them out into a shallow pool of water, sputtering out, they stopped and stared at the massive Blue Lion covered in some sort of forcefield before them.

"Whoa."

"Is this it? is this the Voltron?" Pidge questioned.

"It…it must be," Shiro stuttered.

_"__The energy readings match what I've been picking up for the past year."_

"So this is what's been causing the energy surges," Keith mumbled before jogging up to the shield. "Looks like we'll have to find a way through this forcefield."

_"__Scanning now…"_

"Does anyone else get the feeling that this thing is staring at them?" Lance asked as the others walked up to join Keith.

"No."

"I swear the eyes are following me."

_"__Incredible, these systems are fully operational and are thousands of years old! They might even rival Vex in terms of advancement. This ship also appears to be made of an alloy that is similar to the Vex's construction, however, I would need to study the metal in order to determine. It appears to lack many key features that would make it a Vex unit. Although…from my analysis there appears to be some sentience to it."_

"How do we get through this?" Keith mumbled tapping the field as Jaz joined him.

"To bad we don't have Darvah, he could figure this out," she muttered crossing her arms. Her glowing blue-green eyes looking over the barrier.

_"__Checking now."_

"Maybe you just knock," Lance said strolling up and knocking on the shield.

It flashed bright blue and the Lion's shield retracted, and at the same time they all had the same vision: five lions, black, red, blue, green, and yellow coming together and forming a massive robot.

"Whoa."

"…Did everyone just see that?" Lance asked.

"See what?"

"VOLTRON'S A ROBOT! VOLTRON IS A HUGE, HUGE, AWESOME ROBOT!" Hunk cheered.

"And this one is only a part of it," Pidge stated, "I wonder where the rest are?"

"This is what they're looking for."

_"__By the Traveler! It's real! Keith! Don't you remember the stories? Remember what your father told us in his lessons about the old legends!? Voltron's real! It's not just a child's tale!" _Yorak ranted, _"Voltron was the Guardian before the Guardians and we just found one of the missing pieces!"_

"Incredible."

"Ful zoor lost vahzah," Jaz muttered in Awoken.

The Lion stood up and crouched down, opening its maw and allowing a ramp to come down from what was probably its equivalent of a tongue.

Lance chuckled and ran inside, everyone else quickly getting over their shock and chasing after. Getting up the bridge, Lance was already in the piolet's chair and they could clearly see out the cockpit window which had numerous scanners running over it.

"All right! Very nice," Lance grinned taking the control.

"Guys I feel the need to point out that we're in some kind of futuristic space cat right now," Hunk said.

Lance froze for a moment before looking to face them. "Did you guys just hear that?!"

"Hear what?" Jaz questioned.

"I think it's talking to me," Lance said, leaning forwards to look at the controls.

_"__So they are sentient, I wonder if they function like a ghost does? Do they form a bond with just one person a lifetime, or can they switch while the other Paladin is still alive?"_

Keith would've answered had it not been for the fact that not only did the Lion start moving as Lance pressed buttons, but he was surrounded by people in a small area, no way they wouldn't hear him talking to Yorak.

"Got it, now let's try this," Lance said shoving the controls forwards, causing the Lion to burst through the rock walls.

Keith gripped tighter onto the chair as Lance started flipping, spinning, and diving the ship, the g-forces driving them to the side. "You are the worst pilot ever!" Keith exclaimed over the screaming, the lion jolted another direction, making Keith change his grip onto strictly the chair as the forces threatened to yank them back.

The Lion landed on the ground and began running, causing bobbing jolts to go though them like they were on a boat going over big waves.

"Isn't this awesome?" Lance exclaimed.

"No!"

"Make it stop! Make it stop," Hunk pleaded starting to look ill.

Keith nudged closer to Shiro, who took one look at Hunk and understood why his old friend was suddenly getting closer to him despite his aversion to physical contact.

"He better not puke," Jaz muttered.

"I'm not making it do anything, it's like this thing's on autopilot!"

The Lion jumped into the air and started flying into the atmosphere. "Where are you going!" Hunk demanded.

"I just said it's on autopilot! It says there's some alien ship approaching Earth. I think we're supposed to stop it."

"What did it say exactly?" Pidge demanded.

"It's not saying words, more like feeding ideas into my brain."

_"__That is most definitely not how a bond with a ghost works, so much for my theory," _Yorak sighed and Keith almost wanted to give him comfort for his disappointment, but he couldn't summon him in a group of people, especially considering all except Jaz didn't really know about the existence of Guardians in general.

"Well if this is the weapon they're looking for, why don't we just give it to them? Maybe they'll leave us alone," Hunk suggested.

Yorak screamed in frustration. _"I can't even count the number of ways that could go wrong! Giving a weapon of mass destruction to a tyrannical race, shall I start playing the Darth Vader theme song?!"_

"You don't understand. These monsters spread like a plague throughout the galaxy, destroying everything in their path," Shiro snarled. "There's no bargaining with them. They won't stop till everything is dead."

_"__Fantastic! That sounds like all the enemies of the Guardians!"_ his ghost exclaimed and Keith had never been so glad to be the only one who could hear him while he was hidden away as he was now. _"Alright so process of elimination, right? Hive: spread like a plague, want everything dead, bargaining is never an option, and they don't take prisoners. Shiro, Jaz and the rest of their crew were prisoners so that rules them out. Same with the Vex, because they don't do prisoners either. Fallen, no, they're not organized enough to pull off something like this, and they can be reasoned with…sometimes, really it just depends on the House. And considering the only House in this system is allied with the Awoken it can't be them because war would've occurred long before they ever got close to Kerberos. Leaving…" _Yorak trailed off as Keith felt the same tingle of fear run up his spine, and he gulped, _"the Cabal Empire…they could definitely pull something like this off."_

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, God, the last thing he wanted was to go anywhere near the Cabal, not after…

Shaking his head, Keith shoved the thought aside, it might not be the Cabal, the galaxy alone was a huge place, it could be some other group. Besides, the Awoken and the Fallen (the peaceful ones at least) lived in the asteroid belt of Earth's system, those who attended the Garrison would've informed him in their news that the Cabal empire had been expanding towards Earth, but for the past several years it's been stagnate, and its borders haven't expanded beyond Keith's home-system.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Keith stared as a warship appeared in front of them, coming out of hyperspeed. It wasn't any type he recognized, it certainly wasn't Cabal, which nearly made Keith sigh out-loud in relief, however, that was short lived by the look on Shiro's and Jaz's faces.

His face had completely drained of blood and his eyes were wide in fear, while the Awoken woman's light blue skin had lost some of its normal glimmer, and she nervously pushed some of her hair out of her wide glowing eyes.

"They found us."

"We have to get out of here!" Pidge exclaimed looking at Lance.

"Hang on!" Maneuvering the ship between the incoming blasts, Lance managed to stabilize it and launch them forwards…towards the ship. "I think I got it!"

"Be careful man! This isn't a simulator!" Katie exclaimed.

"Good, I always crash in the simulator."

"You what?"

"We're gonna die," Keith grumbled.

_"__So much for being immortal,"_ Yorak sighed along with him.

Lance pushed one of the controls forwards and a laser shot out, hitting the side of the ship. "Let's try this!" Lance smirked pulling the Lion up between incoming fire, before diving towards the ship and raking the claws along it, causing a series of explosions to go on after it.

"Nice job Lance," Shiro praised.

"Thanks, now let's get these guys away from our planets," he said steering the ship away from Earth.

Keith couldn't help but glance back for a moment, while he wouldn't say anything, he was going to miss it. Earth was his home away from home, it reminded him so much of Terra it was at least comforting and felt like he was there. Heck the only reasons he would remember that Earth wasn't Terra was because of some of the wildlife that wasn't there or that was there in place of something else. Not to mention there was all the separate Earth governments that demanded the hiding Guardians' complacency as weapons for their own discretional use against each other; rather than a united legion of many separate races from across the known universe he grew up with as a child.

"They're back!" Hunk called.

"And gaining on us!" Pidge added.

"That's weird, they're not shooting at us, just chasing," Lance commented.

"Seriously! Now we think having aliens follow us is good!" Hunk exclaimed. "I am not on board with this new direction guys!"

"Where are we?" Keith asked.

"The edge of the solar system, there's Kerberos," Shiro answered.

"It takes months for our ships to get out here! We got here in five seconds!" Katie said.

In front of them a portal opened, Keith perked up, recognizing it as a wormhole, one that lacked the distinctive black darkness that seeped from Hive jumps or grid-like pattern of Vex portals to the Infinite Forest, it was a safe one.

"What is that?"

"This may seem crazy, but I think the Lion wants us to go through there," Lance said.

"Where does it go?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know. Shiro, Jaz, you're the senior officers here. What do we do?"

"Whatever's happening the Lion clearly knows more than we do. I say we trust it," Shiro replied. "But, we're a team now, we should decide together."

"I say it's better than leading them to our homes," Jaz stated.

They all looked between each other, nodding in agreement.

"Guess we're all ditching class tomorrow," Lance said flying them through.


	3. The Castle

Chapter 3

**A/N: once again I just own this story, nothing else is mine.**

**_Yorak talking to Keith/flashbacks_**

**/comm/**

"Whoa…" Lance gasped once they shot out of the wormhole, "that was…"

Hunk made a gagging sound before turning to the side and hurling, making them all wince in disgust. "So sorry," he murmured before vomiting again.

"I'm just surprised it took this long," Pidge sighed.

Shiro looked out the monitors at the sky, frowning. "I don't recognize any of these constellations, we must be a long way from Earth," Shiro said.

_"__Well, he's not wrong,"_ Yorak said making Keith release a short breath of amusement to let him know he heard.

"The lion seems to want to go to this planet," Lance said motioning at the Earth-like planet up ahead, "I think it's going home."

Entering the atmosphere rough as usual, causing those standing to all grip onto Lance's chair and breath through their mouths as Hunk's breath hit them.

"Personal space guys! And Hunk! Your breath is killing me!" Lance protested.

"Is it just me or is anyone else having second thoughts about flying through a mysterious wormhole? Why are we listening to a robotic lion anyways?!"

"Got us away from that alien warship didn't it?" Lance retorted.

"I'm not sure you've noticed but we're in an alien warship," Keith pointed out.

_"__Technically a fighter."_

"You scared?" Lance taunted.

"With you at the helm, terrified."

"All right, knock it off," Shiro stated ending the potential argument before it began, "look, no one's happy to be in this situation, but we're here now. If we're going to get through this we have to work together."

"So, what do we do?" Katie questioned.

"First, we find out where we're headed," Shiro replied. "Lance?"

"I don't know," he answered and glanced around as they all stared at him. "I'm serious the lion stopped talking to me. Wait! Shh! I think I hear something…"

They all got quiet and heard a small high-pitched squeaky noise.

"I hear it to," Keith said trying to figure out what it was.

"It's uh—it's kinda a…a high-pitched squeal?" Hunk questioned before the scent hit them as Lance farted.

"C'mon Lance!" Shiro groaned as they all held their noses.

_"__Real mature, just the thing we need WHEN OUR LIVES ARE POSSIBLY AT STAKE!" _Yorak shouted.

"Do that again and I will kill you."

"But seriously, there's a castle up ahead."

They looked out the window to stare at the white and blue structure, before the five pillars started glowing blue as the lion flew down to the ground.

The lion landed, setting its jaw down to let them out.

"Keep your guard up," Shiro cautioned.

"Something wrong?" Pidge asked.

"Our crew was captured by aliens once, we're not going to let it happen again."

_"__Should I get the armor and weapons ready just in case these guys turn out to be hostile?"_

Keith gave Yorak a small nod in reply, he wasn't sure if his partner could see it, but there was no point going in unprepared. If it came down to it he'd reveal his closest kept secret to get them out.

Walking out onto the ground, the lion stood up to its full height, causing Hunk to scream. "I KNEW IT WAS GOING TO EAT US!"

_"__Uh…it technically did eat us earlier and it just now threw us up?"_

"Can you be serious for five seconds?" Keith muttered.

_"__I'm not Serious, I'm Yorak," h_e replied, making Keith sigh in defeat.

The lion roared loud enough to shake the ground, as it did the doors flashed blue before slowly sliding open.

Hunk peered out from where he was hiding behind Shiro. "Oh, the doors opened, guess I was wrong about you lion."

The group walked inside the dark foyer, gazing at the structure around them.

_"__This building is as old, if not older than the lion itself, and the tech is fully-functional. It seems to run on Balmera crystals just like our sparrows and ships do."_

"Hello?" Hunk called, his voice echoing throughout the building.

_"__That's it, Keith if things get bad, take Jaz, Shiro and Katie, the other two are useless."_

"From the size of the lion I expected these steps to be bigger," Pidge pointed out.

A light activated above them and held them in some sort of energy field. **"Lurf guh ofipwowa tdep [Hold for identity scan]"** an automated voice said, making Keith's eyes widen as he recognized the language, it was one of the common languages of his home…why was it all the way out here?

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Why are we here?" Shiro demanded. "What do you want with us?"

In response, the lights in one of the hallways began activating.

"Whoa."

"Guess we're going that way," Pidge said as they started following the lights.

"Stay on guard," Jaz hissed as Shiro raised his prosthetic arm into a fist.

"Hello?" Hunk called as they walked down, heading on balcony walkways and down stairs. "Hello?"

Reaching the end of a hall, the door opened, allowing the small group to walk into an empty room with a control console in the center of a circle.

"Looks to be some sort of control room," Pidge said as the console flashed, making them all jump as two pillars rose from the ground, pillars Keith so happened to recognize as stasis pods.

_"__Guess we're about to meet our hosts."_

"Yep," Keith whispered, gripping the hilt of his knife.

"Are they…dead?" Hunk asked staring at the two figures inside the glass pillars.

"Stasis," Jaz stated preparing for a fight.

The blue cover of one retracted, revealing a young woman with dark skin, white hair, and two patches of pink right under her eyes. "Father!" she gasped, her blue-pink eyes shooting open as she fell forwards and Lance ran over and caught her.

Keith tilted his head as he looked at her, she looked familiar, but where…the Tower, weren't there a group people in the city that looked like this? Some Guardians too, one of his best friends looked like her, they were Altean if he was remembering correctly.

"I'm Lance, Lance McClain, and you're right here in my arms," was the first thing Keith heard as he came out of his thoughts.

"Your ears…"

"Yeah?"

"They're hideous," she said making Keith snicker, Alteans always had a weird thing about ears, actually, Fae and Alasian did too now that he thought about it, "what's wrong with them?"

"Nothing's wrong with my ears! They heard exactly what you said about them!" Lance said before the girl grabbed one of his ears, grabbed an arm, spun him around, and slammed Lance to his knees.

"Who are you?! Where is King Alfor?! What are you doing in my castle?!"

"A giant blue lion brought us here! That's all we know!" Lance confessed.

_"__Yep, it's official, we leave him to whoever is after us and don't tell him anything," _Yorak decided.

"How do you have the Blue Lion? Where happened to its Paladin? What are you all doing here? Unless…" she trailed off. "How long has it been?"

"We don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you tell us who you are? Maybe we can help," Shiro offered.

"I am Princess Allura of Planet Altea," she declared walked down towards the console. "I must find out where we are and how long we've been asleep. But first, who are all of you?!"

"I'm Lieutenant Takashi Shirogane of the Galaxy Garrison, you can call me Shiro," Shiro introduced hold out his hand to shake only for the Princess to merely give him a respectful nod before she decided to take his hand. "You've already met Lance."

"Charmed," she said looking around.

"I'm Hunk," he waved shyly before he shook Allura's offered hand.

"Nice to meet you Hunk."

"I'm Pidge," Katie said using her alias.

"A pleasure to you as well," Allura bowed before she walked up to the Awoken. "And you?"

"First Lieutenant Jaz Venj of the Awoken Techeun-Crow," she replied shaking her hand.

"Welcome," Allura said before turning to Keith.

"Keith."

The Altean gave him a nod before going to the center of the room. She put her hands on the console and it glowed blue, a monitor appearing in the air.

"Ok, guess that's how that works," Katie commented.

Hearing the second pod open, they turned and saw a middle-aged man with pale skin, blue marks, and bright orange hair and moustache appear.

"ENEMY COMBATANTS!" he exclaimed before leaping out of the pod straight at Lance who just stepped out of the way as the old man regained his balance. "Quiznak! You're lucky I have a case of the old sleep chamber knees, other wise I'd grab your head like this, wrap you up like so—and one, two, three—sleepy time!"

"Well, before you'd do that I'd—" Lance said before swinging an arm forwards and doing a crane kick, "like that."

"Really? How could you do that when I've already come at you with this?" the man questioned before jabbing his arm out several times. "Ha, ha, ha, hey!"

_"__This. Is. Ridiculous,"_ Yorak sighed. _"Like they could possibly believe those combat moves would have any real use, the worst those could do is give a few small bruises."_

Keith rolled his eyes, leave it to his ghost to point out things like that. "Iksā umaak ziry paktot [You are recording it right]?" he whispered.

_"__Uh, duh. This is perfect blackmail material."_

"It can't be," Allura gasped, making them all look back to her rather than the dueling duo.

"What is it?" the man questioned.

"We've been asleep for ten thousand years. Planet Altea and all the planets of our solar system have been destroyed," she continued.

Keith glanced down in thought, he could tell her about the Alteans that lived on Terra, descendants of refugees, or revived Guardians themselves, but…the question was, were they even still alive?

"Coran, father is gone. Our entire civilization…" Allura trailed off before a look of rage came to her face. "Zarkon."

"Zarkon?" Shiro gasped, causing Keith to look up at him, he looked pale, so did Jaz.

"He was the King of the Galra. A vile creature and enemy to all free people!" Allura informed almost shaking with rage.

Keith frowned, now that he thought about it, that name was familiar…didn't his father mention that some race called the Galra were trying to form an alliance with them? The ones he met seemed nice, though there was a big scary one who didn't dress in the hunter-like attire like the others. That one wore red armor. He had even let him sit on his shoulders to watch the opening ceremony of the Revelry festival to celebrate the coming of spring. Though…that might've been due to the fact he completely mopped the floor with one of the man's commanders during a food fight.

Shiro nodded. "I remember now, we were his prisoners."

"He's still alive? Impossible!"

"You sure it's not just a name that's been passed down through the generations?" Keith asked hesitantly. He didn't want to sound like the doubter, especially since Shiro and Jaz were his best friends, but they needed to get their facts straight before coming up with any plans.

"Pretty sure," Jaz answered, not appearing phased by the question one bit. "I don't know how, but he is. He's searching for some superweapon called Voltron."

"He's searching for it because he knows it's the only thing that can defeat him," Allura said, "and that's exactly why we must find it before he does."

"So where do we start?" Keith asked.

"Well…" she trailed off typing away on the monitor when the mustached man, Coran, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Princess, you must eat, it's been ten thousand years," he implored.

"I'm not hungry."

"Man ten thousand years? That's like a thousand plus ten," Lance commented.

"Times ten," Keith corrected.

"Whatever dropout," he snapped back, making Keith glower.

"I can't believe that your civilization created such advanced technology ten thousand years ago," Shiro said, "it must've been an incredible place."

"Yes, it was…but now it's gone and we're the last Alteans alive," Coran said sadly as Allura hugged him, crying softly.

_"__You think we should tell them…"_ Yorak started but stopped when he sensed Keith give a slight warning.

Allura seemed to hear something before going to the pod she was in and smiled, pulling out four small mice. "Looks like we're not the last after all," she said picking them up right as an alarm went off.

Coran went to the monitor as the image of a Galra warship appeared. "A Galra battleship has set its tracker on us!" the ginger man exclaimed.

"How did they find us?" Allura asked.

"I don't know, but I bet it's Keith's fault," Lance accused.

_"__WHAT?! HOW DARE YOU! BO WAH AUSUL LANCE!"_

Keith chose to ignore his raving ghost before turning to Lance. "Say whatever you want to make yourself feel better, after getting us stuck on the other side of a wormhole!"

"I'LL STICK YOU IN A WORMHOLE!"

_"__BRING IT ON PRINCESS!"_ Yorak screamed back, not that Lance could hear him.

"Stow it cadets," Shiro said stepping between them and pushing Lance away from Keith, and Keith almost snorted at Yorak's anger if it wasn't for the fact he was angry at Lance himself.

_"__Keith, let me do a prank please, I can convince him he's being haunted! Please, please, please!"_

Keith didn't reply cause Shiro was still talking. "This isn't the time to be placing blame, it's time to work as a team. How long till they arrive?"

"At their speed?" Coran began counting on his fingers. "I'd say probably a couple days."

"Good. Let them come!" Allura declared. "By the time they get here, you five will already have formed Voltron. And together, we will destroy Zarkon's empire."

Hunk belched causing them all to look at him as he nervously smiled. "Sorry, food goo."

"Princess, there are five of these lions, how are we going to find the rest?" Shiro questioned.

"Follow me," she said walking out of the med-bay.

Leading them through the castle, they ended up on the bridge where Allura walked up and stood in the middle and the crystal above began glowing.

"King Alfor connected the lions to Allura's life force. She alone is the key to the lions' whereabouts," Coran informed.

Keith could almost see his little buddy bobbing up and down in excitement. _"Ooh! A battleship class Balmera crystal! I've never seen one this close before! It seems to be directly connected to Allura, so I guess only she can control the ship? Sounds like these ancient construction workers didn't plan that out well. What if she's killed, or captured, or turns evil? Then nothing would work. I wonder if I can get into the computer on here? Is there a map? I'd like a map? And where will we be staying? I don't know about you Keith, but I want a comfy bed to sleep in. Draaf, did you pack clothes?! We got fresh clothes right?! It was one of our agreements for leaving the house! I think we still have plenty of Glimmer we could use…wait, do stores even accept Glimmer here? Are there even stores in this sector? What sector are we even in?! And toothbrush?! Keith did you grab toothbrushes? I don't want to heal your teeth each time you get a cavity, and I can't stop bad breath! Traveler! The others could start losing their teeth! We need to find where the personal hygiene closet is, there has to be at least one! And there has to be a place to clean clothes, that would be stupid if there wasn't, right? Tell me I'm right!"_

If it wasn't for the others standing so close to him, Keith would've snuck out to summon Yorak and keep him from either worrying himself into a panic or exhausting himself, neither of which were fun situations.

But for now attempting to sooth him through the bond would have to work, if Keith was lucky it'd at least keep him calm enough to help. However, with the way his luck ran, Yorak would exhaust his light out one day with how much he worried about him.

A hologram of the universe spread out around them and Keith almost chuckled at how fast Yorak's attentions changed.

"Whoa."

"These are coordinates," Pidge said adjusting her glasses as the planet they were on drifted in front of her. "The Black Lion looks like it's in the same area as the Blue."

"Look at your primitive synapses firing away in their little brain cage," Coran said and Pidge looked like she wanted to slap him.

"Very observant," Allura complimented, "that's because the Black Lion is right here in the castle."

"To keep the Black Lion out of Zarkon's hands, King Alfor locked it in the castle, and it can only be released if the other four lions are present."

"As you have found, the lions choose their pilots," Allura continued. "It is a mystical bond and it cannot be forced."

_"__Sounds a lot like ours Keith,"_ Yorak chipperly commented.

"The quintessence of the piolet is mirrored in his lion. Together they form something greater than what science can explain."

_"__Still sounds like us,"_ Yorak sang and Keith rolled his eyes.

"The Black Lion is the decisive head of Voltron," Allura said moving the map," it will take a piolet who's a born leader and in control at all times, someone whose men will follow without hesitation," the lion came to a stop in front of Shiro, "that's why Shiro, you'll pilot the Black Lion."

_"…__Is this the same Shiro that drank a coffee with Red Bull instead of water and ended up screaming in German for thirty minutes in front of the entire class after you convinced him to drink three cups?"_

"Sȳz jēdi [Good times]," Keith mused at the memory. He, Jaz, Matt, and Darvah had died laughing at Shiro's expense as Adam attempted to chew them out for convincing Shiro to do that after he finally crashed from the caffeine rush. Needless to say it happened to Iverson and Sanda less than a week later and they still had no regrets.

Allura started moving the map again. "The Green Lion has an inquisitive personality and needs a piolet of intellect and daring," another planet came over and stopped in front of Katie, "Pidge, you will pilot the Green Lion. The Blue Lion—"

"Hold up," Lance interrupted with a smirk, "let me guess: takes the most handsome and best pilot of the bunch?"

Allura just frowned at him before continuing. "The Yellow Lion is caring and kind," she said moving the map again, "its piolet is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together."

Hunk looked behind him as the lion stopped in front of him and pointed at himself.

Allura ignored the silent question and a red one appeared in her hands. "The Red Lion is temperamental, and the most difficult to master. It's faster and more agile than the others, but also more unstable," she pushed it forwards and Keith swore his ghost was having their equivalent of a heart attack at the present moment. "Its piolet needs to be someone who relies on instinct rather than skill alone. Keith, you will fly the Red Lion."

_"__You mean we'll fly the Red Lion!"_ Yorak squealed.

"What? This guy?" Lance scoffed.

"Lance," Jaz scolded.

"Unfortunately, I cannot determine the Red Lion's location yet," Allura apologized. "There must be something wrong with the castle; after ten-thousand years, it might need some work."

"Don't worry, we'll find it soon," Coran reassured, 'they don't call me the 'Coranic' for nothing…cause it sounds like mechanic, so…Coranic mechanic. It's not—doesn't sound exactly like it…it's similar."

The little lion in front of Keith's face suddenly roared, making him give a small jolt in surprise as the other lions did the same and they all flew to the center of the room. "Once all the lions are united, you will form Voltron, the most powerful warrior ever known. The Defender of the Universe."

"I wouldn't call it the most powerful," Keith murmured and Jaz made a sound of agreement.

_"__Please, these guys have been out-of-time for the past ten millennia, of course they don't know that the Guardians are clearly better. It took one man to drive Voltron into hiding, it took multiple armies going at us for several thousand years before an EMPIRE finally formed a plan for which they had to ambush us to even have a winning chance. And even now we're still kicking."_

"Awesome."

"Wait. Ok, so we're going to be in there and flying the lions, got that, but how do lions turn into legs? Is this going to be a long trip? Because I have to pee, do you people pee?" Hunk questioned.

"We don't have much time," Shiro said. "Pidge and I will go after the Green Lion. Lance, you take Hunk and get the Yellow one. Keith, Jaz, you two stay here, if you locate the Red Lion, go get it."

"In the meantime, I'll get the castle's defenses ready," Allura stated. "They'll be sorely needed."

"I'll ready a pod and load in the coordinates so you can reach the Green Lion," Coran said leading everyone but Keith to the hangar.

Seeing Allura was working, he quietly walked out walking down one of the halls towards a dark and somewhat dusty area near some windows.

Pulling Yorak out, the tiny little light nudged him before looking out. "Ooh, this looks like the island cliffs of Terra. Remember our Exrin hunting trip?!"

Keith chuckled, how could anyone forget that trip? Not only was it anything but peaceful like it was supposed to be, but Keith managed to get some of his first Fallen kills under his belt, about a year or two before they started training with Hive and Vex POWs…it was also the same trip that one of the giant Serpents ate him.

"Hey Yorak, you think you could access the systems and see if you could locate my lion?"

"Sure!" he said floating over to a panel and scanning it, "These systems are pretty old, so it'll take me some time to readjust them."

"I don't think time's too much of an issue right now, but the sooner we find it the better."

Yorak spun his shell in acknowledgement. "Let's see, if we work on the elemental signal like Hunk and Pidge did, and use the castle's systems to amplify our search, I believe we can locate it if it's in a range of a few thousand parsecs."

"Give it a whirl then," Keith smiled sitting down and leaning back against the wall, looking out the window. It was, real, Traveler, Voltron was real, and he was going to be a Paladin. The thought made the corner of his mouth twitch upwards, he used to love listening to the Legend of Voltron as a kid. His father would often sit with him on an old rocking chair, letting him sit in his lap holding a blue lion plush as they gazed up at the sky telling the story with a smile. Sometimes it would be how the Paladins came together, other times it would be different adventures they were said to have done, whatever version it was Keith was always eager to listen.

His Pop always did tell the best stories.

"Good to see he's still flying," Jaz said startling the pair.

"Just keeping a low profile like Pop said," Keith snickered relaxing seeing it was just her.

Jaz snorted, "Never thought I'd hear the Hive Killing King say 'keep a low profile'."

Keith shrugged. "Earth had weird rules. Dad just wanted to make sure I didn't get stuck under some politician's thumb. You know how tense things could get between Dad's team and Admiral Sanda."

"True that, didn't he hurl a watermelon at her from the roof?" she smirked.

"That was me," Keith grinned, "Dad was responsible for the yodeling computer."

"Ah the memories, you Guardians were always determined to take her out," she reminisced with a fond smile. She went quiet for a minute, biting the inside of her cheek for a moment before speaking up, "…Hey, uh…how's Mom? Is she...?"

"She was almost as pissed as I was," he stated, "but last I spoke to Petra she seemed fine. Though the Garrison and Awoken don't get along as well as they used to, she has her spies looking for you guys in the Cabal."

"The Cabal?"

"We concluded them because they were closer and they were the only ones of our known enemies to use tractor beams. Since then I think your Mom went to the Shore to handle it personally and lead the search for Queen Mara, watch the rebuilding process. Make sure the prison's still in order."

Jaz nodded. "Sounds like Mom."

"Jaz…do you remember anything, about what happened?"

"Hm…not much. I know we were captured, taken to prisons…" her brows furrowed as she continued to think, "we got separated from the Sam; Darvah, Matt, Shiro, and I were taken somewhere else and then Shiro and I got separated from Darvah and Matt somehow…and we had help escaping—I think…but other than that everything's a blur. Might be a result of memory repression or just all the adrenaline keeping me from thinking straight. Being drugged beyond belief is also a possibility. What did Shiro say?"

Keith shrugged. "Not much else."

"Figures," she sighed wishing she could remember more about what happened, "Why is it I know for a fact I trained my ass off for stuff like this, but once it happens I can't seem to be able to do any of it?"

"Training can only get you so far, sometimes you have to learn through doing it," Keith recited one of his father's lessons before he took him and his class out on their first patrol.

"Sounds like the words of experience," Jaz winced knowing all too well how brutal Guardian training was for the Kiin.

"Oh, it is, most of our teachers firmly believed in learning on the job."

Jaz scoffed, "Sounds like the Techeuns."

"How's your head?" he asked motioning to the scar curving just inches around her left eye.

"Pains every now and then, I think I got this doing something incredibly stupid," she stated. "What about you? Do you ever get phantom pains from anything you've lost?"

"Once and a while if I remember a particular death," he stated.

Her gaze softened for a moment. "How are you handling it?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he reassured. "Besides, I still have my powers."

"Ah, so if anyone's life is in danger I can expect you to take the hit?" she teased.

"Obviously."

She laughed light, leaning back onto her hands. "Be honest with me, how are you?" Jaz asked again.

Keith shrugged. "Hurts every now and again," he answered, wincing rubbing his chest as his eyes flashed brighter with light for a moment before settling back in their normal dim glow.

"You should go release some of that pent-up energy," she whispered, "before you or someone else gets hurt."

"I'll be fine, Jaz," he reassured albeit firmly.

"Keith, you know what happens when you hold back for too long!"

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, he knew all too well what happened when he held back too long, Iverson didn't lose his eye from just a restrained punch.

"Guys! I've—!"

**"****Keith, Jaz, return to the bridge, we've obtained the coordinates for the Red Lion."**

Yorak grumbled something and vanished in a flash as they made their way up to where the Altean's were waiting.

"Good to see you Number Five and Number Three," Coran greeted and both raised an eyebrow as they saw Pidge and Shiro shrug."

"Where's Lance and Hunk?" Jaz asked putting her hands on her hips.

As if on cue, they walked in groaning and rubbing sore spots.

"You made it," Allura sighed in relief.

"Just barely, that was a nightmare. I almost puked; I felt like Hunk!" Lance whined.

"Think how I felt, I am Hunk."

Shiro and Pidge shared a smile. "Yeah, we had a rough time too."

"You said you have the Red Lion's coordinates?" Jaz questioned.

"Yes, but there's good news and bad news," Coran answered tugging on his moustache. "The good news is, the Red Lion's nearby. The bad news is that it's on board the Galra ship orbiting Arus. But the good news is, we're on Arus!"

"They're here already?!" Shiro exclaimed.

"You said a few days!" Jaz snarled.

"Yes, guess my calculations were a bit off."

Jaz threw her arms in the air. "Nid draaf!"

_"__Transmission incoming,"_ Yorak warned Keith as a holoscreen appeared with a…fluffy purple cat on it?

**"****Princess Allura, this is Commander Sendak of the Galra Empire. I come on behalf of Emperor Zarkon, Lord of the Known Universe. I am here to collect the lions. Turn them over to me or I will destroy your planet."**

The transmission ended and they all stood frozen.

"Alright, let's not panic," Shiro voiced, breaking the silence.

"Not panic?! The scary purple alien thing is driving a battleship towards us! We only have four lions—"

"Technically three working ones," Pidge interrupted and Hunk pointed to her.

"Yes! Thank you Pidge!" he continued, "Three working lions and a castle that's like ten thousand years old!"

"Actually, it's ten-thousand-six-hundred years old," Coran corrected. "You see it was built by my grandfather—"

"Thanks Coran," Hunk said putting a finger to his lips, "so see! Now's the perfect time to panic!"

"Wait, this castle has a particle barrier we can activate," Allura remembered.

"Girl you've already activated my par—!"

"Lance!" Shiro scolded as Jaz smacked him upside the head.

Turning away from the easily distracted boy, Jaz crossed her arms. "The question is does it still work? The systems of this place have been inactive for a long time. There's probably thousands of bugs and errors. Not to mention faulty wiring in the systems."

"Not to mention the barrier won't hold off the ion cannon forever," Coran pointed out pulling up a scan of Sendak's ship. "Galra technology has advanced since we fought them last."

"It has been ten thousand years," Keith remarked.

"Can we panic now?"

"No," Shiro said, "we just need to figure out Zarkon's plan."

"Well we better do it quickly," Jaz frowned putting a hand on her hip.

"I say we pop through a wormhole and live to fight another day," Lance voiced.

"I second that!" Hunk agreed. "We tried to find all the lions right? We gave it the old college try; couldn't do it. We only have three; can't form Voltron—I guess we could form a snake, or a worm! And then go through that hole Lance was talking about!"

"Then it's settled," Lance smiled. "Allura, you can ride with me. Can one of you take the old guy?"

"Nothing is settled here Lance," Jaz hissed.

"Jaz is right, we can't just abandon Arus," Pidge stated. "The Galra will keep destroying planets and capturing prisoners until we stop them."

"Ok, if we run then maybe Sendak will follow and leave the planet alone?" Hunk suggested.

"I highly doubt that," Jaz commented, "he could destroy it in retaliation of our cowardice."

"Staying is our only option," Keith agreed.

"Here's an option, shut your quiznak!" Lance said.

"I don't think you're using that word correctly," Keith growled.

"What do you know Mullet?!"

"More than you! We're staying!"

"Leaving!"

"Staying!"

"Snake!"

"Staying has more votes!"

"GUYS STOP!" Shiro shouted and all the others growled before backing off. "Princess Allura, these are your lions, you've dealt with the empire before, you know what we're facing better than any of us. What do you think is the best course of action?"

Allura seemed taken aback by his question. "I…uh…I don't know."

"Perhaps your father can help," Coran stated.

"My father?" Allura questioned following the advisor out of the room.

"I thought her father was dead?" Jaz said as soon as the doors closed.

"Jaz!" Shiro exclaimed.


	4. The Lions

Chapter 4

**A/N: I just own the story, nothing else but the OCs are mine. I am borrowing random languages I have found on the internet for the Galran, Altean, Awoken, Fallen, and other alien dialects, so I don't own them, I'm just using them for this story because I don't want to invent several languages.**

**/comms/**

**_Italics is Yorak talking to Keith alone or flashbacks._**

Allura came back to the bridge wearing the pink version of Jaz's new uniform. "You six were brought here for a reason. The Voltron Lions are meant to be piloted by you and you alone. We must fight and keep fighting until we defeat Zarkon. It is our destiny. Voltron is the universe's only hope. We are the universe's only hope."

"We're with you Princess," Shiro agreed.

Allura nodded and lead them down to another room, the lights turned on revealing five suits of armor. "Your suits of armor," Allura stated as they all walked up to their corresponding colors.

"Cool."

"Awesome."

"Neat."

"Princess, are you sure about this?" Coran whispered. "They aren't exactly the best and brightest the universe has to offer."

"And here I thought you believed we were brought here for a reason?" Jaz smirked hearing the Altean man yelp behind her as he realized he'd been overheard.

"Boys! It's time to suit up!" Shiro said.

Keith tugged at his armor, it wasn't as comfortable as his normal stuff, not to mention it didn't cover as much. However, it was lighter, meaning his renowned hunter-like speed could be used to his advantage more. Of course, there was always the option of switching mid-battle into his better gear. Walking out of the changing room, he had to keep himself from fidgeting with the armor considering everyone else seemed comfortable in it.

He tossed a glare to Jaz as she knowingly smirked at him, and she just rolled her eyes as he flipped her off.

At least one of them was having fun with this situation.

Allura put her hand on a table and the blue cover dissolved, revealing four strange things that resembled the back handles for his rifles that matched each of their colors. "The bayard is the traditional weapon of the Paladins of Voltron," she said as they four devices floated into the air and towards each Paladin. "It takes a distinct shape for each Paladin."

Hunk was the first to grab his, almost falling over as a heavy cannon appeared.

Carefully taking his own Keith sighed in relief as a sword appeared, resembling his favorite blade: Night Abolisher. Something on his other wrist flashed and a shield appeared. _"…Do we need the shield?"_ Yorak asked and he shrugged.

Lance laughed as a futuristic rifle appeared in his hands, and he playfully looked through the scope.

Pidge grabbed hers and a small spade appeared, and she gave a few swings, smiling as she liked the way it felt in her grasp.

"Aw, you got a cute little bayard—AHH!" Lance screamed as she slammed her bayard into him, electrocuting the Blue Paladin making him fall to the ground as Pidge smirked proudly and Jaz died laughing.

"Guess it is pretty cute," Pidge snickered making Jaz laugh harder.

Allura turned away from the strange situation to look at the new Black Paladin. "Shiro, I am afraid your bayard was lost with its original paladin," she apologized.

"It should be fine Princess, he's got the ultimate bitch slap!" Jaz grinned as Shiro tossed her an annoyed glare, his eyebrow twitching. "Not to mention he's never un-armed!"

Shiro promptly tackled her as Pidge and Lance cheered.

"Behold, the universe's greatest hope," Keith muttered.

-.-

"You'll need to retrieve the Red Lion from Sendak's ship," Allura stated as they looked over the scan of the Galra cruiser.

"That's a pretty big ship," Keith pointed out looking it over. Even with a fireteam it would take a while to completely search it. "How will we know where the Red Lion is?"

"Well it's not a matter of 'we', it's a matter of 'you,'" Pidge stated.

"Pidge is right. Once you get in, you'll be able to feel its presence and track it down," Hunk added.

"Like how you felt that crazy energy out in the desert," Lance commented.

"You made fun of me for that."

"And I still don't regret it, but it's just like that mumbo jumbo."

"Keith, the Red Lion is extremely temperamental," Allura reminded. "You'll have to earn its respect."

"That shouldn't be too hard for you," Jaz snickered elbowing him.

"Alright, here's out plan of attack," Shiro began, "the Galra know we have the Yellow and Blue Lions, but they are still unaware that we possess the Green. Hunk, Lance, you two will need to act as a decoy and pretend to give yourselves up. While you're doing this, Keith, Pidge, Jaz and I will sneak onboard in the Green Lion."

"Keith and Shiro will find the Red Lion as Pidge and I guard our exit," Jaz finished. "Hunk, Lance, find a way to take down that ion cannon."

-.-

The Blue and Yellow Lions flew towards the ship waiting above the planet. /Attention Galra ship, do not attack, we are giving ourselves up!/

Watching a pair of doors open, Lance gulped. "Hope this works."

The Green lion landed on the bottom hull of the ship. Putting on their helmets, they got out of the lion and carved their entrance into the ship. Getting inside the landed on the ground silently.

/Pidge, what's your ETA?/ Lance asked.

/We're in/

/What's that?/ Hunk asked as the doors opened and a beam began to activate.

/Our signal to get out of here!/ Lance exclaimed as they pulled their lions out of the way and fighters began exiting the ship. /Hunk! Dismantle that cannon! I'll take these jerks for a space ride!/

/Got it!/

-.-

Keith peered around the corner before moving into the hall with the others in tow, hearing something, he turned to see Shiro was pale and panting, as Jaz began to glance around nervously, shifting from foot-to-foot.

"I—We've been here before," Shiro said sharing a glance with his co-pilot, "after we were captured…they brought us here."

"So that means the rest of your crew might be held captive here?" Pidge questioned. "We have to rescue them!"

"I don't know, we were separated from Commander Holt and Darvah pretty soon after we were captured," Jaz stated. "At least from what I can remember."

"We don't have time, we need to find the Red Lion and go back to Arus," Shiro sighed.

"We can't just leave prisoners here!"

"Look, no one understands that more than me, but this is war, and we have to make tough choices."

"No! Commander Holt is my father. He and my brother were the ones on the Kerberos mission with you."

_"__I knew it!"_ Yorak said.

"Commander Holt is your father?/That crazy flirt is your brother?" Shiro and Jaz asked simultaneously.

"Yes! I've been searching everywhere for both of them and I am not going to give up looking when I'm this close!"

"We can split up, Shiro, you and Pidge go find the prisoners and get them out of here, Keith and I can handle finding the Red Lion," Jaz stated.

"Good, I remember where the prisoners are held," Shiro nodded in affirmation. "Keith remember, patience yields focus so—" he stopped as they heard a door open and sentries start walking down the hall.

"Let's move!" Jaz said as they split.

The duo raced down a hall before sliding to a stop at a junction. "Great now which way?" Keith hissed.

"I don't know Guardian, use your magical light powers!"

"They don't work like that!"

"Then use your ghost," Jaz said.

Keith nodded, but stopped, as they heard steps from one of the halls.

"Guess we're going this way," Jaz said as they sprinted down a junction.

-.-

Hunk barrel rolled out of the way of a Galra fighter before attempting to ram the ion cannon, only instead of crushing the cannon like he intended, he just ended up bouncing off the shield surrounding it.

"What the quiznack?" he muttered looking at the purple glowing bubble. "That some kind of forcefield?"

-.-

"Are you kidding me?!" Jaz exclaimed and Keith groaned as they ended up at the exact same junction again.

"Patience yields focus," Keith recited taking a breath and calming himself down. Closing his eyes, he reached out and felt something…it felt like Blue, but where it wasn't calm radiating calls that came in waves this was a burning growl, one filled with a passionate fire Keith was familiar with.

"Now isn't exactly the time for meditation Keith!"

"Gotcha," Keith smirked turning around and sprinting back the way they came.

"Wait, did you do some mystic light thingy?" Jaz questioned chasing after.

"I just did what the others said," he replied.

"So the mystic light?"

"I don't know, Yorak, can you feel it?" he asked.

_"__Well I am permanently bonded to you, so yes, I can."_

"Can he feel it?" Jaz asked and Keith groaned.

"Yes."

"Awesome, so Guardian magic works with Voltron, sweet!"

"Why don't you use your Awoken magic to teleport us?!" Keith quipped irritated that she was calling his abilities magic when they really weren't.

"It doesn't work like that genius!" she replied as they entered a red room, where the lion was suspended in its particle barrier.

"Bingo," Keith smirked as they jogged up, the Red Paladin tapping the barrier. "Let's go! Open up!"

It didn't respond and they looked at each other.

"It's me. Keith. Your buddy."

No response.

"You sure you're doing this right?"

"Shut up Jaz!" he snapped before glaring back up at the lion and banging on the barrier not bothering to restrain his strength. "It's me! Keith! Your—I am your paladin!"

"I don't think it's listening," Jaz said before a blaster shot made them both jump.

Keith lifted his arm and the armor created a shield as Jaz rolled between shots, rushing forwards to hide behind a console. "I'M BONDING WITH YOU!" he continued calling to the lion. "Hey! Come on! We're connected!"

Growling, he summoned his bayard and charged forwards, slicing through a sentry. "You're not getting this lion!"

"They already have it!" Jaz called leaping over the console as her hand began glowing. Holding out the palm a blast shot out frying one of the incoming sentries before a barrage of gunfire pinned them down.

"Your helmet still on its space settings?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, why?"

Her answer was the Guardian activating his own and slamming his fist on the control panel and opening the airlock. They both held onto the console for dear life, grimacing as pieces of debris got too close for comfort.

One slammed into Keith's hands, making him let go and grab onto hers as Jaz's other arm held them. Until the large hunk of metal ripped the console out of its spot sending them hurling into space.

"YOU GUARDIANS ARE ALL CRAZY!" she exclaimed as they were separated and hurled into space.

Keith activated his jetpack and flew towards her, grabbing each other's arms they began using their packs to slow them down. Hearing a roar they looked up and screamed as the Red Lion flew over and ate them, unceremoniously dumping Keith and Jaz into the seat and moving them to the cockpit.

Jaz fell off the chair and held onto the seat for dear life, if Shiro's stories about Keith's piloting were true she was in for one hell of a ride.

-.-

Jaz walked down the Red Lion's ramp to join Shiro to unlock the Black-Lion's hold. Removing her helmet she sighed in relief as her hair fell out.

"Geez, what happened to you?" her old friend smiled as he watched her long dark-blue hair attempt to mimic a mane from the Lion King.

"Your protégé happened," she deadpanned.

Shiro chuckled to himself as they watched the four other lions activate one-by-one, in response the symbol on the door glowed brighter before retracting and revealing a massive black version of the lions…only it looked like it has some sort of stylized wings on its back.

The lion got up with a roar, and the others replied shaking the castle down to its foundation as they all cheered.

Their excitement was short lived as the alarms sounded.

**"****Sendak is entering the Asurian atmosphere! We need Voltron now!"**

"Go kick ass," Jaz smirked, giving a thumbs-up before sprinting up to the bridge, maybe there was something she could do to help there.

-.-

The paladins winced against a bright light as the ion cannon's beam slammed into the shield.

/Man those guys repair things fast/ Hunk commented.

/That barrier gets weaker with every blast, once that goes down the Castle will be defenseless/

/I can give you cover with the Castle defense for a while, but you must form Voltron now! Or we'll all be destroyed!/

/Jeez, no pressure/ Hunk muttered before they braced themselves as the next shot of the cannon hit.

/Listen up Team Voltron. The only way to succeed is to give it all you've got!/ Shiro said. **/**This may look bad be we can do this! Are you with me?!/

They all nodded in agreement.

/I'm nodding, did everyone else nod?/

/Yes Hunk/ they all groaned.

/Let's do this!/ Shiro exclaimed as they all began charging forwards through the barrier.

/Uh how?/

/Good question. Does anyone have any ideas on how to form Voltron?/

/I don't see a 'combine into giant robot' button/ Hunk stated.

/This is insane! Can't they cease fire for one minute so we can figure this out?!/

Keith rolled his eyes as Yorak smacked himself against the headrest on Keith's chair. "This is war, you don't give an enemy a timeout like in football!"

/Is that too much to ask?!/ Pidge ranted stopping her lion and swinging it around before Green jumped up and bit down on one of the fighters, before tossing it into the other one shooting at them.

"How about a yes," Yorak sarcastically commented as Keith stopped and shot at two other fighters.

"We need to do something!" Keith exclaimed.

**"****COMBINE!"**

Hunk rammed his lion into Keith's and the Red Lion rolled back to her feet, Keith grunting as Yorak flew around the cockpit before slamming into his face.

"HEY!"

/Ok, that didn't work/ Hunk said before they ran as the fighters reconverged and started shooting again.

"Yorak, I need you to hide," Keith hissed wiping the blood pouring from his nose.

"But I've been cooped up for so long!"

"And you're getting in my way!" Keith snapped.

"Fine," he said dissolving into a ball of light, and Keith sighed in relief. At least now he didn't have to worry about a permanent death with his little buddy hiding once again or getting another bloody nose from his shell ramming him.

/Quickly Paladins! Our energy levels are getting low!/ Allura said.

/Maybe if we fly in formation, we'll just combine/ Shiro suggested.

"It's as good a plan as any," Keith called.

/Take off on my cue! One. Two. Three! Voltron!/

They took off into the air flying up in formation.

/…Nothing's happening!/

/Hey! Wait, wait, wait! I feel something!/ Lance said.

/I do too!/ Hunk chimed in. /It's like we're all being pulled in the same direction!/

/Look up idiots!/ Jaz snapped through the comms.

/What the cheese?/

/Sendak's ship is sucking us in like a black hole!/

"It's a tractor beam!" Keith hissed.

/Like Star Wars?/

"Yes."

The ion cannon fired again, hitting the Castle's barrier…only this time, it didn't hold, and the barrier collapsed into thousands of light fragments.

/Oh no/

/I don't care what you say Shiro! I'm panicking now!/

/It can't end here!/

/This is it!/

"Been an honor flying will y'all," Keith said lowly gritting his teeth.

/No! We can do this!/ Shiro proclaimed. /We just have to believe in ourselves. We can't give up! we're the universe's only hope! Everyone is relying on us! We can't fail! We won't fail! If we work together, we'll win together!/

/Yeah!/

All the lions roared before they began changing around them. They could feel and hear pieces of the lions shifting into their designated places as it all came together and they formed Voltron.

"I can't believe it!" Keith cheered.

/We formed Voltron!/

/I'm a leg!/

/How are we doing this?!/

They heard Shiro give a soft laugh of exhilaration. /No idea, but let's go get that cannon!/

/YEAH!/ they all cheered.

Voltron turned and grabbed the rails of the ion cannon. Pulling with an incredible amount of strength, they ripped the cannon off, hurling off the battleship to the ground below.

Keith grunted as his lion was punched through the hull, before he smirked and pressed the triggers, firing a high-energy beam through the ship. The resulting explosion almost knocked them off their feet, but Voltron quickly recovered, flying off the falling bow, and smashing through the hull, firing from the Green Lion.

Flying up again, they dove down with a loud battle cry, completely going through the ship's engines.

Landing on the ground, they grinned as the ship exploded behind them.

-.-

"Good work Paladins!" Allura praised as she, Coran, and Jaz, ran out to meet them.

"That was awesome guys! I've seen my fare share of space battles, but that was totally the best yet!" Jaz cheered.

"Thanks ladies," Lance winked.

"We did it," Shiro said smacking Keith on the shoulder, making the unprepared Titan take a step to regain his balance.

But like that could stop him from smiling as he removed his helmet. "Heck yeah we did."

"How did we do it?" Shiro breathed.

"I was just like screaming the whole time. Maybe that did it," Hunk voiced putting his helmet under his arm.

"I highly doubt this has anything to do with that awful noise," Jaz deadpanned.

Shiro looked and put a hand on Pidge's shoulder. "We won't stop till we find your father and brother, wherever they are, I know they're proud of you," he reassured.

"Don't worry Pidge, the Awoken Joint Interstellar Army never leaves a man behind," Jaz grinned patting her on the back. "We'll get them all back!"

Allura gave a cough, getting their attention. "The battle is won, but the war has just begun," she said. "I am afraid Zarkon won't stop until he gets these lions."

"Good thing you Paladins know what you're doing, because you'll need to form Voltron again and again," Coran said.

"What?"

"We barely survived forming Voltron this once," Lance whined.

"And that was only fighting one ship! Wait till you have to fight a whole fleet of them!" Coran exclaimed.

"I'll practice my magic, give us a bit of an edge in the field," Jaz smirked punching her fist into her palm.

"It's not going to be easy being Defenders of the Universe," Coran continued and they all looked at each other, thinking over the name.

"Defenders of the Universe, huh?" Shiro smiled. "That has a nice ring to it."


	5. Training

Chapter 5

**A/N: alright onto the next chapter of this tale. Obviously I have changed some things. If you don't like it whatever, it's fanfiction, it lets people express their imaginations. Thanks to all those that have favorited and reviewed so far.**

**/comms/**

**_"_****_Italics is Yorak talking to just Keith or flashbacks."_**

The Castle alarms blared to life, echoing down the once quiet halls.

Hunk was startled out of bed. Rolling out, he scrambled to his feet and scrambled out the door.

In his room, Shiro was dressed in his armor doing push-ups, hearing the alarm he sprung to his feet and raced out.

**"****Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking!"**

Jaz opened her eyes from where she was meditating. Rolling to her feet, she sprinted out of her room.

**"****The Castle's about to be destroyed!"**

Pidge was startled awake, her laptop falling off her lap as Rover nudged her. Getting to her feet, she raced for the bridge.

**"****Go! Go! Go! We need Voltron now!"**

Keith and Yorak immediately stopped talking, the small form quickly vanishing in a ball of light as his partner leapt across the room and grabbed his jacket and bayard before rushing into the halls.

**"****Hurry! We can't survive much longer!"**

Keith was half-tempted to summon his sparrow, but for one he didn't know the Castle layout all too well, and he couldn't hear anything. Even with a forcefield up there would still be tremors and noises.

"Yorak check the scanners!"

_"__There's nothing nearby!"_

**"****Oh no! Allura's dead! Aw, it's horrible! Her head fell off!" **Coran's voice rang out and Keith slowed to a walk.

It was a drill, a good one. Until the advisor took over that is.

**"****Wait! Her severed head is trying to speak to me! What is it Princess? What are your final words?!"**

"Coran," Allura said as Keith strolled onto the bridge with the others.

"Yes Princess?!"

"It's over," she said deactivating the alarms.

"I know!" he bemoaned. "If only Voltron had been formed." He looked up and shot to his feet spotting them tossing something behind him. "Time!"

"I guess this isn't an actual attack," Shiro stated.

"And it's a good thing it wasn't, because it took you…Coran?"

"Seventy-five degrees," he stated.

"Was my translator malfunctioning or did I just hear that?" Jaz grumbled rubbing her head.

"We all heard it," the others replied.

"Oh, sorry this is a meat thermometer."

Allura scowled. "However long it was, it was too long. You must always be ready to do battle with Zarkon at any moment," she sneered. "Look at you! Only Shiro is in uniform. Pidge, Hunk, where are your bayards? Keith where is your armor? And where's Lance?"

The door opened and Lance walked in wearing Blue Lion slippers, matching pajamas, and a matching robe. He gave a yawn before sipping out of the cup in his hand. "Good morning everyone. What's going on?"

"Coran and I have been up for hours getting the Castle back in order," Allura stated. "We had to run a test on the alarms and we decided to test all of you as well. Guess which one failed?"

"Hey," Hunk yawned. "You guys got to sleep for ten thousand years. Monday night I was on Earth. Now I've flown through space, fought some evil alien named Zarkon, eaten goo in some weird castle; that's a lot to process in…uh…what day is today?"

"It's the third quintant of a Spicolian Movement: Hump Day!" Coran supplied.

"It's a lot to process."

_"__Not really."_

"Well they didn't exactly grow up the way we did," Keith murmured and Jaz glanced at him, realizing he was talking to his ghost she made sure to stand between him and the others just in case she needed to cover.

Keith looked over to her as she did this and the twenty-two-year-old gave a friendly wink, making him give a small smile back. It was nice to know there was at least one person here he could go to for Guardian stuff.

"You must understand the stakes of our mission," Allura said pulling up a monitor and a hologram of the galaxy appeared. "Over the past ten thousand years, the castle has picked up distress beacons from all the following locations. So we must assume Zarkon has already conquered most of the known universe."

Keith looked at the map, there was no way this was all Galra, there was definitely Hive and Cabal mixed somewhere in here too.

_"__According to what I have, Zarkon has in fact conquered the most, but the Cabal still remains in possession of a good chunk, however it's not nearly as big as the Galra. But I can't track the Hive."_

"You did good enough," he whispered.

"Our mission is to free all those planets," Allura resolved. "Coran and I are getting the castle ready to leave Arus. During that time you five must learn to form Voltron so we can begin fighting Zarkon."

"The Princess is right. Let's get to our lions and start training," Shiro ordered.

"Wait, but I want to talk to the prisoners we rescued," Pidge protested.

"Negative Number 6, I have you ranked by height, okay?" Coran rambled. "The prisoners need to remain in the cryo-replenishers until tomorrow."

"That's right, now get to your lions," Allura ordered.

"You guys have fun, I'm going back to bed," Jaz said turning on her heel and strutting out of the room.

Keith quickly walked over to his respective elevator. Putting on his armor, he went down and jumped onto the zipline, seeing the end coming up, he swung his legs forwards and let go, dropping into the chute and onto his speeder.

It zipped down the passage towards another elevator that would take them into the lion.

_"__Is it just me, or does this seem over complicated for reaching the lion?"_ Yorak questioned.

"No, it's over complicated," he stated. "After all why on Terra do we use the ziplines? It's a waste of time."

_"__Thank you!"_

Getting into the lion, they flew out of the hangar and joined Shiro and the others as they landed on the road leading to the castle…only Hunk was missing.

_"__Keith, please, can I come out? I want to be able to fly around too! Please!"_

"Fine, just as long as you don't get seen in any vid-comms," he sighed and swung his left hand, letting Yorak materialize.

"Yes!" he exclaimed flying around and looking at the systems.

/Should someone go in after Hunk?/ Lance asked opening a comm-line.

/I'm here!/ he said as the Yellow Lion flew around the white spires and landed next to the Green Lion. /Sorry I'm late. Can't they park these things a little closer to the bridge?/

/Alright guys, let's just fly in formation until we're in sync/ Shiro said as Allura opened a vid-comm, forcing Yorak to hide behind Keith's leg.

/Feel the bond with your lions until five become one and you form Voltron!/

/YEAH!/ they all cheered flying into the sky.

They did their first loop. /YEAH!/

Then another loop. /Yeah!/

Then another. /Yay/

/Whoo/ Hunk weekly cheered as they did another round. /Am I the only one who's still pretending to be excited?/

Keith scowled at his console as Yorak scanned it. Why wasn't this working? They did it yesterday, what was different now? "Anything?"

"No, I can't find any reason as to why you aren't forming Voltron," Yorak replied his shell spinning. "It could be some magic thing, or you might have to build it."

Keith raised an eyebrow, that wasn't a bad idea.

/Clearly this isn't working/ Shiro grumbled. /Let's set down for a bit/

"Maybe we should try building Voltron from the ground up," Keith suggested ignoring his ghost's surprised squawk that Keith actually listened to his advice for once.

/What do you mean?/

"I mean let's try literally building Voltron, like stacking on top of each other."

/Like a cheerleader pyramid?/ Lance snickered.

"You have a better idea?" Keith shot back and there was an angry growl in response.

/It's worth a try/ Shiro said.

The first attempt, needless to say, didn't go so well. Keith wasn't even sure how they ended up in this position. The Blue Lion as the only one in its proper position. Green was next to Blue, Keith and Red somehow ended up sideways and with Shiro and Hunk on top of them.

"Daar los leinro zoklot hind [This is the universe's greatest hope]," Yorak muttered.

"Vogluuskeinok [Unfortunately]," Keith agreed.

/Hunk…what are you doing?/ Shiro questioned.

/What do you mean?/

/You're supposed to be the leg, where Pidge is/

/What? No. No, no, no, I'm pretty sure last time I was the head. Right?/

/You yelled 'I'm a leg!'/ Lance reminded.

/I was yelling a lot of things/

"Shiro's the head," Keith stated.

/All the time?/

"Yes!" Yorak and Keith said at the same time, before he tossed a scalding glare at his light.

/Let's just try it my way for now/ Shiro sighed.

/Fine, but next time I call head!/

Getting out of the mess they made, the Blue and Yellow Lions stood side-by-side allowing Red and Green to climb onto their backs. The Black Lion flew up before starting a slow decent onto the others.

As he landed, Keith felt his lion jolt a little, before looking out the window…nothing was happening.

/Feel the bonds with your lions/ Shiro said. /Now, channel your energy into forming Voltron. Focus. Focus/

Keith closed his eyes as Yorak looked out the window and around him. "Um…nothing's happening," he whispered.

/Is everyone bonding a focusing?/ Shiro asked.

/Why was this so much easier before?/

/I LOVE YOUR CHEERLEADER PYRAMID!/ Jaz laughed as she got on the comms. /Don't move! I have to take a pic!/

They all heard Shiro groan loudly before the Black Lion lifted off and landed on the ground, prompting Keith and Pidge to get off as well. /How about we take a break?/

/Sorry to interrupt but I might be able to help/ Allura said coming on the vid-comm with Jaz. /Yesterday you weren't able to form Voltron until you were in the heat of battle/

/Yeah/

/You're right/

"I guess," Keith shrugged.

/Perfect because I need to run a diagnostic on the Castle defenses/ Allura said typing on something.

/And I need to practice my magic/ Jaz grinned. /By the way, I am so not deleting that photo/

/Jaz—Wait! You're practicing your what?!/ Shiro exclaimed.

/This should help!/ both women smiled as the Castle particle barrier activated and began shooting at them.

The five took off running as the blasts shook the ground behind them, and they began screaming as Awoken energy blasts formed in the air.

"ALLURA! JAZ! WHAT ARE Y'ALL DOING?!" Keith exclaimed as he maneuvered his lion between the Castle's blasts. He was really worried for Jaz's attack though, he saw the live feed of what they did during the final moments of the Taken War.

Awoken mages were terrifying.

/Running a diagnostic test, letting Jaz practice, and inspiring you!/ Allura cheered. /I believe in you Paladins! Let fear be your guide! Form Voltron!/

/Forget this! I'm going back to the Castle!/ Lance exclaimed as Blue turned and flew back, before ramming into the barrier.

/Thanks for the free target Lance!/ Jaz sang.

/Wait! WHAT?!/

The first blue ball deviated from the line, while not nearly as big as what the Queen and her mages created during the battle it still sent the Blue Lion flying.

/Please stop! Please! Have mercy on us!/ Hunk pleaded as he narrowly avoided being shot.

/You think Zarkon's going to have mercy on you?! He's probably on his way right now to destroy us all!/

/That's why we're practicing!/ Jaz smirked before sending the second out and Hunk screamed as he hit the brakes and it hit in front of him.

Keith and Yorak looked at each other as they continued driving the Lion, Jaz still had two more shots to go.

-.-

"I'll admit, I don't remember being that powerful," Jaz panted letting her hair fall to the ground as she sat upside-down on the couch with the Paladins in what seemed to be the living room, or at least the Altean equivalent, "before Kerberos, I could barely produce one of those let alone four."

"Just never do that to us again," Hunk said.

"You're no fun."

The doors opened and Allura and Coran walked in. "Are we at full power on condenser number five?"

"No, still just eighty-four percent," the ginger responded as Allura looked at all of them.

"You did it! You formed Voltron!" Allura praised.

"No, the shooting stopped and the particle barrier shut down, so we just flew in," Keith stated.

"What?" Allura growled, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, right, sorry Princess," Coran apologized. "I had to turn off the defenses to test the fire suppressors."

"What are you guys doing in here?" Shiro asked as he walked into the room. "We're not taking a break."

"You were the first to fly in," Jaz stated raising an eyebrow.

"I had to go to the bathroom."

"So what's the difference?"

"You should be training!" Allura said.

"We've been training. When are we going back to Earth?" Hunk whined.

"I'm not going back till I find my family," Pidge stated.

"I'm going back as soon as I have the rest of my crew," Jaz stated.

"Guys, there won't be an Earth if we don't figure out how to fight Zarkon," Shiro said.

That statement was like a slap to Keith. He'd already lost his planet to an evil alien empire once, he'd be damned if he'd let it happen again.

"How are we going to fight?" Lance asked. "We can't even figure out how to form Voltron."

"Well, I'm not surprised," Coran stated. "The original paladins fought hundreds of battles together, side-by-side. They were like a pack of yalmors linked at the ears."

"Wow. Yeah, that's totally not us," Lance stated flopping back down on the couch.

"During the last attack your survival instincts forced you to work as a team, but that'll only get you so far," Coran sighed. "You have to become a real team to form Voltron and beating Zarkon next time. You should try working out on the training deck."

Keith and Jaz instantly perked up and Shiro held back a groan, he didn't want to see what would happen if those two were sparring together. Keith was always crazy good at fighting and despite his small size he had broken Shiro's arm once by accident with a single hit. And the Awoken were very prideful of their combat abilities and Jaz had broken his nose before, and that was only because he startled her.

"There's a training deck?"

-.-

Keith stood with the other paladins down on the deck, it was nice, definitely not as messy as the training arena back at the Tower. But then again, many saw very few reasons to clean it since it was an open-air arena and the training would just get it all bloody again anyways.

Of course, Keith's main question was where would their opponent be coming from? A place with this type of technology had to have some sort of advanced training drones like they had for the beginners, but there weren't any visible gates. Or were they facing each other?

He hoped it wasn't that, Keith couldn't be sure how long he could hold back full-hits from so many opponents. If he lost control, even for a split second, there was a very high chance he could kill someone.

**"****Check, two, two, one, two,"** Coran's voice rang out over the intercom. **"Ok, listen up guys. The paladin code demands you out your team members' safety above your own. A swarm of drones is about to attack."**

"Huh?" Keith grunted as he summoned the shield and spotted some small doors opening in the corners of the room.

**"****So each of you need to do everything you can to protect the other members of your team."**

Several small orbs that bore a terrifying resemblance to the Servitors back in his home system. These were much smaller, and he doubted they were set on kill, but that didn't mean there weren't any bad memories.

"Wait, wait, what's going on?" Hunk asked.

_"__We're going to die,"_ Yorak deadpanned. Did these guys seriously pay any attention? This was combat, you couldn't just zone out!

"Did you guys get one of these?" Hunk asked holding his shield up.

"Get ready," Shiro ordered and Keith took a breath, bending his knees and holding his shield watching the orbs.

The first shot was fired and Pidge went down as Hunk ducked.

**"****Protect your teammates or there will be no one to protect you!"** Coran said as a blast got Hunk.

Keith backed up continuing to block shots from hitting Shiro or Lance and ignoring all his basic instincts to drop the shield and fight. _"You're about to bump into Lance and Shiro,"_ Yorak warned and Keith nodded.

**"****Time to increase intensity!"**

The orbs began spinning around them faster and it was getting more difficult to predict the shot patterns. Keith was now back-to-back with Shiro and Lance, all his Titan instincts were telling him to pull out his sword and destroy them all, but that would leave his teammates without guards. They couldn't take what he could, he had to stand his ground.

"You keeping up over there Keith?" Lance said trying to start a fight.

Keith didn't need this, with this many he couldn't afford distractions, especially out in the open with no cover and no weapon. "Just concentrate on keeping me safe," he answered curtly watching the mini drones.

"Psh, I own this drill, you're the one that needs to concentrate," Lance taunted.

The Servitors dropped the ground, making Keith drop too, he couldn't let a shot get through, he wasn't going to fail. They may have outnumbered them, and they may have been smaller than what he was used to, but he would win.

Death doesn't stop victory.

His back stung and the ground gave from under him. Landing in the lounge he shot up, as Lance and Shiro fell after. Right…training…where he didn't die? That was weird, but then again, Guardians didn't exactly classify as "normal" in the first place.

_"__Keith, are you ok?"_ Yorak asked sounding worried as he began heading back towards the training deck, the others following somewhere behind him.

"Yeah, why?" he whispered.

_"__You just kinda…I don't know, freaked out? Your heart rate was off the chart, same with your breathing, and you didn't respond when I was calling to you. Not with words, or noises, or even a bond nudge."_

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," he whispered.

_"…__It's fine, just don't scare me like that again."_

Walking onto the observation deck where Jaz and Coran waited he removed his helmet. "Oh! Good! Number 5, you can be the navigator for this next exercise," Coran said offering him a mic. "Number Four! Go back into the training deck and stand in the circle."

Keith watched as Lance walked out and put on his helmet as a maze appeared.

"To form Voltron you need trust in each other," Coran stated. "This ancient paladin maze will teach you that trust. Your teammate can see the walls, but you cannot. So listen carefully, if you touch the walls you'll feel a slight shock."

The walls dissolved from view and a map appeared next to Keith, putting on the headset he analyzed the map looking for the way out.

**"****Wait who's guiding me through?"**

"Take two steps forwards," Keith said after finding the exit.

**"****Aw no, not Keith. Why does he get to be the man on the mic?"** Lance whined.

"Just sit tight, you'll get your turn," Coran reassured.

"Like I said, take two steps forwards, turn right, then take two steps and take three steps that way," he repeated praying that Lance for once would drop their so called "rivalry" and just do as he said so they could be done faster.

Instead Lance turned and walked right into a wall, getting himself shocked. **"You did that on purpose!"**

"You're not listening."

**"****You said turn right."**

"But before that I said take two steps forwards."

Lance growled turning a random way and ran into another wall. **"We're switching places right now!"**

Keith sighed, this was going to take a while.

-.-

**/**You'll never be able to form Voltron unless each of you has a strong bond with your lion/ Coran said as they flew in formation.

/No problem. Me and Blue are best buds for life/

/Perfect. Then you won't have any trouble with this drill, everyone put your lions into a nosedive!/ Coran said as each paladin complied, driving their lion towards the ground. /This is an expert-level drill that you shouldn't attempt until you've been flying for years, but we're in a bit of a rush so here we go. Activating training helmets!/

Keith gasped as his vision went dark, causing to instinctively try to find Yorak. "Right here," he said somewhere to Keith's right.

"Ok, go hide."

"But I can help you navigate!"

"A potential crash could damage you, hide," he ordered he heard his light dissolve and he gave a sigh in relief. Now, he needed to pull up before hitting the ground, he'd done this drill before…except it was with their Wyverns…who had eyes and could fly themselves.

/Feel what the lion feels!/

Hunk was the first to pull up. **/**Mine feels scared!/ the Yellow Paladin whimpered.

/You still going?/ Lance taunted Keith.

The Red Paladin/Titan grit his teeth. He refused to lose to this fool. "You know it. You?"

/Going? I'm speeding up!/

It was on. "Oh yeah?" he growled hitting the thrusters.

/Must be getting close/

"Must be."

_"__Keith."_

/You getting scared?/

_"__KEITH! THE GROUND!"_

"I'M NOT SCARED!" Keith exclaimed ignoring Yorak's protests.

He was thrown from his seat as they hit the ground. Using his jetpack, he went back up to it and Yorak appeared next to him in the darkness, Keith could just barely make out his eye glowing though his helmet.

"I tried to warn you."

"Sorry."

/I win/

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

-.-

"Now put these on," Coran said handing each of them some sort of helmet-like thingy.

"For what?" Pidge asked inspecting hers.

"Bonding exercise. Paladins must be able to meld their minds together to form Voltron. No walls, no secrets between paladins."

"Nope, not happening," Pidge said. "I am not letting people root thought my head."

"Pidge—" Shiro began.

"I agree, no way," Keith stated crossing his arms. Friends or not, he was not letting them possibly find out his status as a Guardian, let alone let them find his telepathic link to his ghost.

"But we're starting to get the hand of this," Shiro tried, attempting to get the two arms of Voltron to agree to the exercise.

"Hell no."

Shiro sighed, he was hoping maybe he could get Pidge to budge, but when Keith made up his mind it was difficult to change it. "Ok, let's take a break."

Coran came down with Jaz, each carrying some water pouches. "You have been working hard. Maybe it's time you do relax a little," the Altean man said handing Keith and Shiro their pouches as Jaz gave Pidge, Lance, and Hunk theirs.

"What are you doing lying around?!" Allura demanded walking in. "You're supposed to be training!"

"Just resting a bit," Coran said. "You know you can't push too hard."

"What do you mean can't push too hard?!"

"Princess, I've fainted from overtraining before, so you can push too hard," Jaz stated before taking a drink from her pouch.

"Get up you lazy lumps! It's time you faced the gladiator!" she demanded.

"Drey pah Zu'u nunon saag bo avok ek klov [Did everything I just said go over her head]?" Jaz muttered.

Shiro shrugged, taking a sip from his pouch. "Grozah [Probably]."

-.-

Keith held out his bayard looking around for the gate this so-called gladiator could come through.

**"****In order to defeat the Gladiator, all five paladins must fight as one, so good luck!"**

Keith heard a hiss and turned with the others to watch a white and gold training drone fall from the ceiling wielding a battle staff. The young Guardian silently cursed in several languages, he'd never been trained to wield staffs like that, it was a Hunter thing, and he'd never had to fight against it. Most of their enemies used guns, shields, swords, teeth, claws, and magic, not battle staffs or bows and arrows.

It lunged at Hunk first and he began firing with his heavy cannon. Pulling up his shield, Keith blocked the shots, and managed to stay on his feet. It swiped the Yellow Paladin's feet from under him before electrocuting him in the stomach before turning and knocking Pidge aside as she tried to attack from behind.

She managed to use her bayard to block several of the hits, but that didn't stop it from kicking her back as the drone turned its attention to Lance as he shot at it from the side. His gun unfortunately was not suited for close-quarters combat as he used it to block as it was knocked out of his hands.

Seeing their chance, Shiro and Keith lunged. The Gladiator hit Lance on the head, giving Keith an opening to slice his sword through, only for it to turn around and block him, before swinging and hitting Lance in the side. Spinning, it practically lifted the Blue Paladin off the ground and ramming him into the Red as he prepared to strike again.

Keith shoved Lance off and rolled to his feet, looking for the gladiator. It was going after Shiro…who stood frozen in a panic attack. Lunging across the room, he lifted his sword to block it using his full strength.

"Shiro, you ok?" he asked looking back at him. He still seemed lost in it like many of his friends had been during those painful weeks after the fall, the same way he had been on occasion during their fights with the hunters that were sent to kill them.

His distraction gave the drone the chance to slide the staff down his sword, realizing her error, Keith moved to attack as his feet were swept out from under him and in midair he was slammed in the gut with an electrical force back into Shiro, sending them both sprawling to the ground.

The drone powered down and Allura stormed onto the deck enraged. "That combat simulator was set at a level fit for an Altean child!" Allura snapped, "You're not even close to working as a team! Let alone ready to face Zarkon!"

-.-

"Ahoy young Paladins!" Coran greeted as he set out their plates. "I've set out a big batch of focusing food. After this meal you'll be forming Voltron six times a movement and twice on the astral conflux!"

"Smells great Coran," Shiro smiled as Jaz raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."

They reached for their spoons when the advisor pressed a button and cuffs appeared attaching all their arms together as Shiro's and Pidge's free arms were trapped to the chair.

"Hold the phone!" Lance protested.

"I saw a lot of solid individual performances today, but you're still struggling as a team. So, welcome to the final training exercise of the day."

Hunk tugged on his cuffs trying to reach his food. "Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing here," Hunk said sounding like he was giving a veiled threat.

"Oh, this is a classic, you get to feed each other, like a pack of yalmors!"

"Forget it," Hunk said slamming his face into the goo.

Jaz picked up her spoon and took a bite, gagging before she managed to swallow it. "And I thought Eliksni rations were bad, remind me to tell Darvah I found something worse," she grimaced as the other struggled to eat and continued to squabble as they attempted to find a way to solve their situation.

"Do Solians ever stop complaining?" Allura growled.

"No," Jaz replied, "and we take pride in it."

"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro requested. "Everyone's been working really hard today."

"Yeah!" Keith snapped standing up, "We're not some prisoners for you to play with, like…like…" Why couldn't he say the quinacking word he was thinking of?

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance finished raising his arms.

"Yes! Thank you, Lance!" Keith said.

"You do not yell at the Princess!" Coran snapped.

"Oh the Princess of what?" Pidge said rolling her eyes. "We're the only ones out here she's no Princess of ours!"

Green goo hit the side of the young Holt's face and all eyes turned to Allura whom was holding a spoon that launched it.

Keith narrowed his eyes before picking up a plate. He had helped start one of the biggest food fights in Guardian history when he was six, there was no way he would not accept this challenge. "GO LOOSE PIDGE!" he said hurling the goo-filled plate at the Altean woman and Coran stepped in the way, blocking it with a towel before using the serving spoon to throw it onto all of them.

"Oh it's on now," Hunk smirked. Burying his face into the food, he took a mouthful, squeezed his cheeks and fired it at their hosts. Covering both in the bright green slime.

And thus the food fight began. Pidge and Keith were helping each other hurl plates, Lance and Keith used other plates as shields, Hunk was basically a food-goo machine gun, and Shiro and Jaz were blindsiding the Alteans every chance they got. Overall it ended in a giant mess with them all covered in goo.

Looking at each other, the group from Earth began laughing as the fight came to an end.

"ENOUGH!" Allura snapped and they all looked at her preparing for another fight. "DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING?!" She looked up with a smile. "You're finally working together as one!"

"Hey, she's right," Keith grinned.

"I actually don't hate you right now," Lance commented before yelping as Jaz hit him in the back of the head with goo.

"Thanks Jaz!"

"Welcome Sparky!"

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk asked.

"Let's go form Voltron!" Shiro smiled.

"Yeah!"

"Actually I was thinking dessert," Hunk pouted, "but yeah! Let's form Voltron!"

One of them tried to take a step and they all ended up falling over onto a very angry Jaz.

A few curses and one black eye later, they all made it to their lions without any issues.

/Everyone ready to do this?/ Shiro asked.

/Rodger that!/

/It's on!/

"Yes sir!" Keith said arriving in his lion.

/I was born ready!/

The Castle shook as Black roared and they shot out of their hangars. /Then let's go!/

/Yeah!/

Flying over together they managed to form Voltron for the second time, first time without their lives being in danger.

On the ground, Allura, and Coran stood grinning as Jaz cheered and took pictures.

"I told you I could get them to do it," Allura smiled. "They just needed a common enemy."

"It's true, the old proverb says 'A man can be driven to do anything of a beautiful woman is just really, really mean to him.'"

"What kind of proverb is that?"

-.-

"Man that was cool!" Lance cheered holding an icepack to his eye. "I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight!"

"Not, me, when my head hits the pillow, I'll be lights out," Keith said sitting down.

"I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron," Hunk began hugging both Lance and Keith at the same time, "we're brothers man! You know, we're like totally connected? No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. Brothers all the way!"

"Then let me get a family photo!" Jaz grinned talking a pic of a smiling Lance, a teary Hunk, and a very confused Keith.

"I love you guys."

"…Did the G-Forces mess with your head a bit?" Keith asked getting up with a stretch.

"Maybe, it's been a long few days," Hunk shrugged as he and Lance got up, leaving after Keith.

"Going to bed yet?" Shiro asked looking at Jaz and Pidge.

"In a minute," Pidge answered.

"Good work today, we're really coming together," Shiro smiled leaving the room with a wave.

"Alright Katie, now to find some pillows and blankets so we can camp out in the medbay," Jaz said stretching.

"Huh?!" she said looking at the woman in shock.

"Please you think I didn't know? Girl, you look exactly like that flirt of a brother of yours," she said heading for the door. "You coming?"

"Y-Yeah!"


	6. Giant in the Sky

Chapter 6

**A/N: as usual, I just own the story and the OCs, otherwise nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**_Italics is Yorak talking with only Keith and flashbacks_**

"Great job training today guys," Shiro congratulated as they all walked into the Castle, "we're really getting the hand of Voltron."

"Seriously, how far do you think my lion kicked that broken alien ship?" Lance asked. "Must've been like a mile!"

"That'll come in handy when the Galra challenge Voltron to a soccer match," Keith grumbled, removing his helmet.

"Hey, I did something cool and you can't handle it. I get it."

"Your kick ruined our balance. We fell."

"That was Hunk's fault!"

"Hey," the Yellow Paladin protested sitting down in his chair for food.

"Alright, knock it off, save your energy for fighting Zarkon," Shiro scolded.

"Or just wait till we can sell tickets for your epic showdown," Jaz smirked. "My Glimmer's on Keith."

"Hey!"

"Hello guys, how was the Voltron workout?" Coran asked walking in with a covered platter of food.

"We're getting there," Shiro sighed. "Are you and Allura almost done fixing the Castle so we can leave this planet? I feel like we're sitting ducks here on Arus."

"Almost, just a few more systems need to be fixed," Jaz stated.

"In the meantime, to get those duck seats off your mind I made this," Coran said setting down and unveiling the tray, "an authentic ancient paladin lunch!"

They all groaned and covered their noses from the smell as they stared at the yellow and green whatever it was.

"And I thought the goo was bad," Jaz grimaced.

"Coran you just got me hooked on that goo, and now you're changing it up on me?" Hunk groaned.

"This is packed with nutrients."

"It smells like a Scorn's cell," Jaz winced crinkling her nose.

"That's how you know it's healthy!"

"Coran, we're on a planet with fresh spices, herbs, and whatever this is, a tuber?" Hunk said. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna head back to the kitchen and spice things up."

"Thank God," Jaz said.

"Where's Pidge?" Shiro asked.

"He's probably checking on the prisoners we rescued from Zarkon. They'll be waking soon in the infirmary," Coran replied holding up a spoon for Shiro. "Now open the hatch! Food lion coming in!"

Jaz came over and grabbed his arm. "We should probably check on Pidge," she said saving Shiro from very possible death.

"You don't know what you're missing!" Coran called after them as they left the room.

Making their way down to the medbay they found Pidge sitting on the ground nervously tapping her leg.

"You're as anxious as me," Shiro chuckled.

"These aliens we saved know something about my family. They have to."

"Hope so," Shiro smiled.

"They recognized you didn't they?" she continued. "They called you 'Champion.' What does that even mean?"

"I don't know, I can't remember much from that time," Shiro sighed before looking to Jaz. "The way those guys looked at me when we freed them…I'm not sure I want to find out. Don't suppose you remember anything?"

The Awoken women shook her head. "Sorry, I'm still pretty fuzzy too, but it does sound familiar…maybe it was some sort of title or code name you went by while we were prisoners?" she suggested.

"Doesn't sound like something I would pick," Shiro winced.

"True," Jaz nodded, "you'd choose something dorky like Sokka, or Genos, or Goku, or Naruto, or Karma; need I go on?"

"Anime is awesome and you know it!"

The pods hissed as they opened and the three turned to face the prisoners to find answers they weren't sure they were ready for.

-.-

Keith stared as Hunk slid out several dishes in front of him and Lance. Whatever it was, it smelled good! Taking a bite, he and Lance looked at each other in shock before quickly digging in.

"They like the paladin lunch," Allura smiled standing next to Coran.

"I don't want to talk about it."

She raised an eyebrow at his strange reply, but shrugged, probably wasn't something for her to pry into. "I just got the final nebulon booster working. We should be able to leave planet Arus tomorrow and take the fight to Zarkon."

The alarm sounded and Allura pulled up a holo-screen showing the path to the Castle where a small figure was spotted peering out from behind a rock.

"What is that?" Keith questioned.

"No idea, perhaps it's a local Arusian?" Allura suggested.

The small horned figure looked around before rushing to the next rock with a cry, and Keith could see he was brandishing some sort of sword.

"He's approaching the Castle!"

"Aw."

"Doesn't look too dangerous," Lance smirked.

"You never know," Keith stated thinking of several animals back in his home system, like Creech a native speasies of Kronos' watery moon of George. They were a strange but oddly adorable combination of a hippo and octopus that were bioluminescent at night like most of his planet's animals were. Creech could be sweet as sugar, letting Guardians cuddle with them and even letting kids ride their backs, even hunting parties would ride a few during fishing trips. But, like any wild animal, they had their moments when they would occasionally remind them of their danger. Particularly when the remains of a giant basalisk would wash up on the shores of the islands or the outposts.

"No, Alteans believed in peace first," Allura said as Keith pulled out his bayard. "Let's go welcome them!"

"That's adorable," Hunk gushed rushing after her and Coran.

"Maybe we can knit him a little sweater!"

"I'm not taking any chances," Keith growled, stalking after the too-friendly group.

Going down to the entrance, the doors opened and they went over the bush where the small being was hiding.

"Hello, we know you're there," Allura announced. "No harm will come to you"

It came out brandishing its weapon, and Keith raised an eyebrow: less than half his height, colorful, small primitive sword; no sharp teeth, no claws, and the horns appeared to have no basic function…seems like an easy win if it came down to it, for him at least.

"He could be dangerous," Keith warned pushing the princess back and holding up his bayard. "Drop your weapon!"

"Nobody takes Klaizap's weapon!"

"Keith put that away!" Allura ordered. "Please kind sir, accept my most humble apologies."

"Huh?" he said before collecting himself. "I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors! Our village over Gazrel Hill. I come seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angry with her followers."

"Followers?" Coran said.

"Lion Goddess?" Hunk questioned.

_"__Seems like this culture worships Allura or Voltron the same way a lot of cultures worshiped the Guardians,"_ Yorak commented.

"Seems so," Keith muttered as Klaizap motioned to the carving on one of the rocks.

"The one the ancients spoke of."

"What makes you think she's angered?" Allura asked with an amused smile.

"Destruction is everywhere. In the past few suns, fire has reigned from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky."

"I think he's talking about Voltron," Hunk whispered.

"Yeah, I got that."

"You have not angered the Lion Goddess," Allura reassured.

"How can you be certain?"

"Because I am Allura, and this is my Castle," she answered.

The small Arusian gasped and got into a bow. "Lion Goddess!"

"Please, bravest warrior, take us to your village so we may meet our neighbors."

Keith frowned. "What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?"

"Part of the paladins' mission is to spread peace and diplomacy," she stated. "Arus has been out host for ten-thousand years. These people deserve our thanks."

-.-

"So how long were you held captive?" Pidge asked handing the grey prisoner that identified Shiro a cup.

"Some for years, decades maybe. It's hard to tell, time becomes a blur."

"Then you must've been there when my dad and brother arrived! Sam and Matt Holt!"

"I never knew their names, but I certainly remember the other three who arrived with Champion and Sorceress."

"Champion, why do you keep calling me that?" Shiro questioned sharing a confused look with Jaz.

"Where on the Reef did I earn the name Sorceress?"

"You two really don't remember? Unbelievable," the alien gasped. "You two were legendary gladiators undefeated in the ring. The Galra always kept two top Gladiators for team battles. Champion defeated an infamous an infamous Galra gladiator known as Myzax. That was the day you earned the name Champion. I was there, as was Sorceress and the young earthling. We were all prisoners forced to fight for the entertainment of Zarkon. That day we were sent to fight Myzax, a vile beast many thought would never be defeated. Slaughter awaited us all. This Matt was the first of us selected to fight. But fate had other plans…you were so thirsty for blood, you injured your fellow Earthling."

"You attacked my brother?!" Pidge snapped glaring at them accusingly. "And you just let it happen?! Why?!"

"What?" Jaz whispered.

"No! There's no way! It can't be true!" Shiro said shaking his head.

"I was there. We all were."

"After my brother was injured where was he taken?" Pidge demanded.

"I know not."

"There's no way Shiro just attacked Matt!" Jaz defended.

"There has to be more to the story!" Shiro agreed, looking a little panicked. "Wait! That ship we were held captive on! There has to be info in the systems!"

"Right," Jaz agreed before looking to the man accusingly. "Now, how did I earn my name? Did I do something similar?"

"You earned yours in single battles, if I remember correctly, it was against Myzax's own partner Rvak. You earned your name after using magic similar to Zarkon's witches to completely obliterate him in a fit of rage."

Jaz's eyes widened, there was no way. She wasn't powerful enough to perform magic on that level! "Let's find that ship!" she said as the two ex-gladiators stormed out.

"I'm coming with!" Pidge exclaimed chasing after.

-.-

Keith crossed his arms as he stood awkwardly in the Arusian village as the small people stared at them or talked excited around them.

"Oh Lion Goddess," an Arusian that was bigger than the others stepped forwards, "I, King of the Arusians, formally beg your forgiveness. Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional Dance of Apology as atonement for our wrongdoings." He clapped and a small pink one jogged forwards. "Commence Dance of Apology, hoorah!"

Keith raised an eyebrow as the music began playing and the small pink one began dancing…or at least doing their form of dancing. _"Uh…Keith…"_

"What?"

_"__Is that a bonfire?"_

Looking near the center of the plaza, he furrowed his eyebrows. Just what did they need that for? A feast? Some other ceremony thingy? Were they going to try killing them?

"Please, there's no need for this," Allura implored.

"Moontow, halt!" the king ordered and the Arusian stopped dancing in what appeared to be a very uncomfortable position. "The Goddess has refused the apology. Start the sacrificial fire, we must throw ourselves in."

An Arusian threw a torch in and lit the flames to the Paladins' horror.

"Guess that answers that question," Keith muttered watching them lift a poor soul tied to a log with wide eyes. Traveler, they were really going to sacrifice him.

"WAIT! NO! No sacrifices!" Allura panicked.

"So, we may proceed with the dance?"

"That's a better alternative," she replied shakily.

The music began again and Moontow, began the dance again before ending it with a bow, leading the other Arusians to follow.

_"__I have to say…this is up there on the list of Weirdest Things to Ever Happen to Us,"_ Yorak chimed and Keith made an agreeing grunt.

"Oh my," Allura blushed as they bowed to her. "Please, please rise. Thank you for that, but I am not a great being worthy of your worship. I accidently put you all in danger. It is I who should be apologizing to you. I am Princess Allura and these are the Voltron Paladins. Although we originally came from different worlds…and have very, very, very different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as friends."

"But the mighty robotic angel…has it not come to punish us for our immoral ways?" the King asked standing up.

"Voltron?" Allura said raising an eyebrow. "No. In fact that mighty robot is here to protect you. Let it be known that Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!"

The Arusians cheered and started swarming them, promptly making Keith start walking to the edges; he didn't do well in crowds.

As he walked one ran up and jumped on him, somehow managing to hang on around his waist despite its small size. "Uh…I don't normally hug strangers, but, uh, man, you are cuddly," he said patting its head.

"Thank you," a disturbingly deep male voice replied.

-.-

"This looks like the master control board, but there's no power," Pidge said as she and Shiro jetpacked to the board as Jaz carefully darted over the ruined machinery to join them.

"All you need is power?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, but one that's compatible with Galra tech."

Shiro looked at his cybernetic hand then back at the board with a thoughtful look. Activating his arm, he set it down and three red holo-screen blinked to life.

"Whoa," Pidge said, "can't believe you got it to work." Activating her own holoscreen, she began to access the system and shifted through the data. "My dad's, Matt's, and Darvah's whereabouts have to be in here somewhere. Once I download this information, I can find a way to decode it back at the Castle."

Shiro and Jaz looked around as they heard a noise. "Jaz…did you do something?"

"Why blame me? It was that!" she said pointing to the ball of fire that just entered the atmosphere.

"What is it?" Pidge asked.

"Something just entered the atmosphere. Not sure what it is but it's big, its Galra, and it's heading right for us," Shiro stated. "We need to go!"

"Don't move! I'm only fifteen percent done! I'm not going anywhere!"

"Sorry small-pint," Jaz said throwing the girl over her shoulder and grabbing onto Shiro. The Black Paladin turned on his jetpack and flew them out of there.

"Team come in! We need back-up!"

-.-

"Shiro?" Allura questioned out of the blue as Keith leaned against a tree nearby, letting the others socialize so he could keep watch.

"What's going on?" he asked before hearing it. Standing straight, he turned and saw whatever it was entering the atmosphere.

_"__It's definitely not a natural meteor, it's a ship alright."_

"Draaf. We gotta get to our lions!" Keith said.

"Everyone get inside!" Allura ordered waving the villagers to a cave. "Stay down!"

"I'm on it!" Hunk said attempting to race past Keith.

Holding on with full-strength, he started dragging the Yellow Paladin back to the Castle. "Not you."

-.-

"Run!" Shiro ordered as they hit the ground, dropping Pidge as she activated her jetpack.

Jaz glanced behind her, eyes widening. "We're not going to escape the blast radius in time!"

The object made impact, and there was a rush of heat, but when the dust cleared, all three of them were alive and between the two lions.

"The lions just saved us?" Shiro panted.

"I didn't know they could do that," Pidge breathed.

"Uh…guys," Jaz said pointing to what caused their problem in the first place. It was a dispenser alright, similar type to what the Cabal used to drop troops. But since this one was so big it had to have an entire company, or something much worse.

The walls dropped revealing a giant purple robot, that when it activated, the three had a sinking feeling that it could see them. "Pidge! Get in your lion! Jaz! With me!" Shiro ordered as they split.

Getting to their seats, they drove the lions out of the way as the robot activated its weapon and fired a glowing purple ball at them.

Instead of creating a new one, the current energy ball came out of the crater it made, flying in a circle as it sung its right arm before throwing it at the Green Lion. Pidge fired a laser at it, only for the energy ball to break through and hit her.

"Pidge! You alright?!"

/Ow/

Keith flew over just to watch the Black Lion get tossed off the evil robot's shoulders, and he heard Shiro's and Jaz's pained grunts through the comms. /Lay down some cover fire so they can get out of there!/ he ordered activating his own Lion's weapon.

/On it!/ Lance complied as he joined Keith in firing at it from above.

**/**Check this out! Battle Lion Head-Butt!/ Hunk chanted as Yellow rammed into its side, causing it to fall to its knees.

/You guys ok down there?/ Keith questioned.

"Still alive for now," Shiro voiced as the Black and Green lions took to the skies with them.

/Are the Galra behind this?/ Hunk asked.

"Think so, but I've never seen anything like it," Shiro said. "Jaz?"

"Looks familiar, just can't place it," she hissed.

/So what's the plan? Shoot at it with everything we got? Take out its weapons? Call it names?/

"If we wanna take this monster down, there's only one way to do it," Shiro said and all the Lions roared as they began glowing. **"**Form Voltron! Remember, we're one unit fighting with one goal."

The monster activated its weapon again, and Voltron charged rolling past the orb as it flew by. Keith pulled the arm back, before shoving it forwards with a battle cry as his lion collided with the enemy's arm.

He could hear Pidge yell through the comms as he watched the Green Lion deck it with an uppercut, sending it stumbling back. Taking the opportunity they jumped up, and both of Voltron's arms swung down to take it out.

The beast blocked their hit, and their eyes widened as its other arm began spinning.

"Guys—" Jaz began and Voltron was then slammed into the ground, "—the orb."

They all looked up to see it coming at them again, making Voltron roll over and fly back out of its way.

/I thought Voltron was the most powerful weapon in the universe?!/ Keith exclaimed as they landed again.

/Exactly! How is this monster kicking our butts?!/ Hunk agreed as they ducked the orb.

Watching it swing around, they turned only to get punched in the gut by the robot, knocking them onto the next hill, where the could see the village.

"Oh no, the village, we have to protect those people!"

"Orb!"

Voltron got up and blocked the orb, before it eventually pushed them back. Turning on the thrusters, they kept themselves from falling down the hill and flew up into the air.

**"**That was close," Shiro sighed as they shot forwards, leading the monster away from the Arusians.

/We got him away from the Arusians, but we can't take him down!/ Pidge stated.

/I got it! I'm gonna power-kick that orb thingy!/

/No! Last time you did a kick we fell!/ Keith protested. They couldn't afford to fall now, they'd be sitting ducks!

/Stop living in the past!/ Lance growled as Voltron turned and flew up as the orb as tossed towards them. The Blue Paladin gave a battle cry as they began their downwards kick, and the orb just passed Lance. /Oh no!/

Keith grunted and gripped tighter on his controls as they crashed into the ground. **/**My point's proven!/

"Pidge! Fire lasers now!" Shiro ordered as Voltron got up.

The Green Lion began activating…only for Voltron's wings to come up and form the shield. /Oops/

"No! Lasers!" Shiro called as they were hit back, the shield taking the brunt of the blow, before the orb hit and sent Voltron sprawling back.

/Everytime we focus on that orb we're blindsided by the monster! And everytime we focus on the monster we get hit by the orb!/ Hunk complained.

/Then what do we do?!/

/Orb!/

Voltron got blasted back again. /Shiro! We've gotta move!/ Keith called. /Shiro are you there? Shiro!/

Jaz glanced down at him, Shiro was pale and panting for air; he might've been having a flashback of some sort. "We need to take out that arm," she muttered to herself. "SHIRO!"

He blinked in shock, coming back to reality, "That sound…"

"What?"

"The noise its weapon is making, I recognize it from our time in Zarkon's prison!" Shiro exclaimed. "I know how to beat him!" The robot charged and Voltron rolled out of the way last minute, jumping across the field. "Listen up! There's a loud sound when the orb returns to the weapon's base! And every third time that orb needs to charge up. That's this monster's weakest point. That's when we strike!"

/So what do we do in the meantime?/ Hunk voiced.

"You guys do defense, I do offense," Jaz stated standing behind Shiro. Putting her hands together, she closed her eyes and bit her lip as she began pulling them apart, a large line of light appearing in front of Voltron. Normally a spell like this would be done with several other Techeun, but they didn't exactly have those resources available.

"Shield!" Shiro ordered and Pidge held it up, blocking the orb as it hit, almost breaking Jaz's concentration. "That's one! Two more to go!"

"Just better hope my concentration doesn't break," Jaz hissed as she began creating one large orb. Her small ones couldn't do enough damage to that, but one big one could…hopefully.

Voltron was knocked back again and the orb almost broke.

/We can't take much more!/

"Last one! Everyone! Brace for impact!" Shiro ordered as it hit for the final time, knocking the Shield out of Voltron's grasp.

"Now!" Jaz exclaimed shoot her hands forwards and the white orb shot out, followed closely by Keith's laser shot.

Both hit the beast, and when the smoke cleared it had a missing left arm, but the weapon was still intact.

"Draaf, wrong arm," Jaz cursed, before collapsing against Shiro's chair.

/It didn't work!/

/What do we do now!?/

When I attacked him before I had a sword!" Shiro stated.

/Orb!/

The violet ball of pain hit and slammed Voltron back.

Keith grit his teeth and grunted as his lion impacted the dirt. /We can't take another shot like that!/

Opening his eyes, he froze as a warm rush go through him. "Yorak was that you?" he whispered.

_"__No…whatever that was, I think it was the lion,"_ he said as one of the consoles rose to reveal a power station of some sort.

"Wait a sec guys! I think my Lion's telling me what to do," he called.

/Whatever it is you better do it quickly! He's about to fire the third shot!/

The third orb began flying at Voltron as he got up, knocking the weapon to the ground once again, and almost causing Keith to fly out of his seat. Hearing Voltron get up as well as the incoming footsteps of the monster, he gave a battle cry and slammed his bayard into the port and turned it like a key.

The Red and Green Lions slammed together before the Red separated and flew towards the beast, a long glowing sword following it, effectively killing the monster as it exploded behind them.

/Yeah!/

/We did it!/

/How did you do that?!/

Keith just blinked and pulled his bayard out. "Whoa," he chuckled. "Thanks Red."

-.-

Pidge sat on the bridge leading towards the Castle letting her feet dangle over the edge. She didn't want to be present for the prisoners' departure, it was just a reminder of what she failed to do.

"Pidge, there you are," Shiro said making her look up as she saw he and Jaz walking to her.

"Why did you hurt my brother? You were friends?"

"I did it to save him," Shiro said.

"What?"

Shiro sat don next to Pidge, and Jaz grumbled under her breath before sitting on the girl's other side. "My memory of the event came back when we were fighting the monster. Your dad was being sent off with the weaker prisoners to a work camp, Darvah was being taken for his engineering abilities or his muscle, meanwhile Matt was sent with us to fight in the gladiator arena. Matt was going to fight first, but he was scared. We all were."

_Flashback._

_Matt stood in front of Shiro and Jaz panting as he stared out into the arena. "I'm not going to make it! I'll never see my family again!" he said starting to panic._

_"__Don't think like that!" Jaz protested._

_"__You can do this Matt," Shiro reassured._

_He froze as the gate opened and a sentry stood holding a sword, pointing to the auburn-haired boy._

_Shiro scowled before charging at the sentry, shoving Matt back with a yowl. "Shiro!"_

_"__This is my fight!" he proclaimed taking the sword before slashing Matt's leg and jumping at him. "I want blood!"_

_The smaller male froze in terror under him before Shiro's gaze softened._

_"__Take care of your father," he whispered before the sentries dragged him out to the arena._

"You saved him?" Pidge breathed a sigh of relief. "You attacked him so they'd choose you instead."

"I still say it was a boneheaded move," Jaz said tossing Shiro a glare. "We should've just moved his position in line like I suggested."

"They would've picked him anyways."

"You don't know that!"

"Thank you!" Pidge exclaimed hugging them. "I'm so sorry I doubted you! Thank you so much!"

"I can tell you really miss them," Shiro smiled ruffling her hair. "I know they miss you too. Your bother and father would be proud of you Katie."

**A/N: hey guys! I'm back for another chapter! hope y'all're enjoying the story so far and I'll see y'all in the next chapter!**


	7. A Blast of a Party

Chapter 7

**A/N: I just own this story, nothing else but the OCs are mine.**

**Comm is bold.**

**_Yorak talking to Keith/flashbacks_**

"The monster fell from the sky!" the Arusian King proclaimed as he told the tale of Voltron's fight against the Myzax robot. "It was an epic battle, but Voltron was victorious!"

The two Arusians pretending to be the monster threw a stick and nocked the group pretending to be Voltron down.

"No! Voltron was victorious!"

The five Voltron Arusians got back up as the other two fell with the crowd gave a cheer.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for that wonderful production," Allura smiled sheepishly. "It saddens me that we must leave tomorrow, but we must continue our battle with Zarkon and spread peace throughout the universe. Your Highness," she turned and handed him a communicator, "please accept this. This will allow you to contact us anytime you need help. Arus will be the first planet in the Voltron Alliance."

"Hoorah!" the King cheered.

"We should get something like that," Hunk said walking over to Keith and Lance.

"Like what?"

"Like a cheer! Like a team cheer that we could do," he smiled.

Lance tapped his chin in thought. "Yeah, ok, how about, uh…I say 'Vol' you say 'Tron!' Vol!"

"Uh…Voltron?" Keith tried.

"No! No, no, no. The cheer includes the instructions," Lance stated. "I say 'Vol and you say…"

"Voltron?" he tried again, Guardians didn't do planned out cheers, they were better at clever puns and sass. He could do that. This was new.

"We'll work on it," Lance grumbled as Keith turned to Hunk with a shrug before both boys looked to see Lance gagging.

_"…__Is he ok?"_

"I don't know," Keith murmured watching him spasm over to Coran.

"Coran what is this?"

"Oh, this is Nunvill, the nectar of the gods," the advisor replied.

"Tastes like hotdog water and feet."

"Yeah," he said reaching in and splashing some on his moustache. "Makes a wonderful hair tonic as well."

Lance made a retching noise and the other two paladins leaned in to investigate. "Is he alive?" Hunk muttered.

"He'd complain more if he were dead," Keith said tapping Lance's shoulder.

The Blue Paladin collapsed on the ground and the Yellow and Red Paladins looked at each other.

"Walk away and pretend nothing happened?" Hunk suggested.

"Agreed," Keith nodded and both quickly turned trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

-.-

"You checking the perimeter too?" Shiro asked seeing Jaz standing not to far from the entrance of the Castle, her glowing blue eyes watching the cliffs warily.

"I don't want to be caught off guard again."

"Seems we can agree on that," he sighed. "So how are you handling all of this?"

"It's a little wilder than all my training said it would be, I certainly wasn't expecting this," she chuckled pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

"What were you expecting? Xenomorphs?" Shiro snorted with an amused smile, but it faded as he saw the frown on her face as she watched the landscape.

"Not Xenomorphs…they're docile compared to what I was trained against," she stated grimly. "There's a lot worse things in the galaxy than the Galra."

Shiro frowned before looking out with her. "Let's hope we don't have to meet them."

Jaz crossed her arms. "Let's hope, because as much as I hate to say it, Voltron is nowhere near ready to handle them."

Shiro looked down wondering if what he saw two years ago was the result of one of these…things she was talking about.

_Flashback_

_Shiro walked into the apartment the Kerberos team was sharing in preparation for their mission in order to get used to living together. His throat was still sore from his lessons in the Eliksni language with Keith, or Fallen as the hardheaded teen called them for some reason. That language was a nightmare, how that crazy sixteen-year-old spoke it so easily was beyond him._

_Sure the language was a required course in the Garrison, but Shiro rarely ever needed to speak it due to the fact whenever he went to the Reef for missions they either spoke English, Awoken, or he didn't talk to any of the Eliksni people and let Adam handle it._

_Unfortunately, that meant he was more than a little rusty. _

_After learning that Keith got to skip the two language classes since he was one of the very few students who came to the Garrison with the knowledge, Shiro asked Keith to teach him. Mostly so he could catch whatever his Reefian teammates and fiancé were muttering under their breath half the time. _

_"__We were starting to wonder where you were," Matt grinned, looking up from where he was doing something on his tablet._

_"__Just with Keith, no big deal. Where's Sam?" Shiro asked setting his bag down._

_"__Dad's having a date night with Mom tonight," Matt chuckled._

_"__Ah."_

_"__So how is that little nukruu?" Darvah asked and Shiro tried to process the word he'd just heard. It was what Darvah and his friends always called Keith for some reason, just how Keith always called his race the "Fallen." Neither of them got mad about it, so Shiro wasn't going to ask. _

_But that didn't mean he didn't want to know what it translated to._

_"__He's good I guess," Shiro said pulling out the note Keith gave him. "He wanted me to tell you this: Neh-fef-zet'h hispster-hare-re-rguy-gin-high mo-hart-hic i'mh gho-hi-guy-gin-high ti'hoh ka'h-guy-gic'hi-hak-h yro-hos-use'r are-his-his."_

_"__First off, you completely butchered that," Darvah stated crossing two of his four arms and placing the other two hands on his hips. "Second tell him…you know what, let me write you a note. And third, what do you want for dinner? We're taking a vote. Matt wants pizza and I want burgers."_

_"__What about Jaz?" Shiro asked._

_"__Haven't asked her yet."_

_"__Here, let me do that before I decide," he said moving past the Vandal and going down the hall to the Awoken's room and knocking on the door. "Jaz?"_

_Not getting an answer, he slowly opened the door and peered in. She wasn't on her bed, or at her desk, and the bathroom door was closed, meaning she was probably in there. Going in he moved to knock on the second door when she opened it, wearing nothing but a bra and underwear, which clearly showed three distinctive, jagged claw marks going up her side._

_"__I…I…" he stuttered before she gave him a black eye, a bloody nose, and told him she wanted fried chicken._

"Shiro?" Jaz questioned raising one of her blue eyebrows. "You ok?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied. "I…I don't mean to pry…but is that where you—?"

"Got my scars?" she asked a hand drifting to her side. "Yeah, we managed to capture one during my first mission. It didn't want to go down without a fight. Killed a good friend of mine."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, that was actually the least amount of casualties we ever had facing those demons," she laughed bitterly.

"Shiro? Jaz?" Pidge called walking out to the two. "I need to talk to you and the others."

Going inside, it was easy to say the news was not received well.

"Pidge no," Shiro pleaded.

"The downloaded data from the ship was enough to at least get me in the right direction," she replied.

"Oh and what if they aren't where you think they are? What will you do then? Do you have the tech or power source to hack Galra stuff? Can you read the language?" Jaz pointed out.

"I have Rover."

"Droids have limits," she deadpanned.

"I already have a pod all ready to go."

"You can't leave!" Keith growled.

"You can't tell me what to do!"

Keith's face grew dark as he glared down at her. "If you leave, we can't form Voltron. And that means we can't defend the universe against the Dar—Galra," he quickly corrected himself. "You're not the only one with a family! All these Arusians have families. Everyone in the universe has families."

"Yeah, I have a family," Hunk stated. "They live on Earth, I wanna be with them. Is that a thing that can happen?"

"You want to leave too?" Allura asked.

"Yeah, look Voltron is cool and all, but I didn't sign up for a lifetime in space fighting aliens."

"You're putting the lives of two people over the lives of everyone else in the entire galaxy!" Keith snapped and Jaz swore she saw sparks momentarily run along him as his eyes flashed.

"Keith!" Shiro scolded grabbing his arm. "That's not how a team works. People have to want to be a part of it. they can't be forced."

"Kostagonsagon daor skoriot ao māzigon hen [Maybe not where you come from]," he muttered in Faen.

Shiro furrowed his brows in confusion, that definitely wasn't Awoken and while he was still rusty it sure wasn't Fallen either, and it seemed the translators didn't seem to want to pick it up. However, he still didn't know the home country of Keith and his father since the former had mentioned once that he hadn't been born in the US, so he might've just been cursing him in his mother-tongue. Though…he would swear he heard him curse in either Russian or Polish a few times before he left for Kerberos.

Sighing he turned to Pidge. "If you want to leave we won't try to stop you. But please, just think about what you're doing."

"I'm sorry," she said after a moment. "You're going to have to find someone else to pilot the Green Lion."

"This team is falling apart, how will we ever form Voltron?" Allura asked quietly.

They couldn't think of an answer because the Castle shook as the sound of an explosion echoed down the halls.

-.-

"What happened?" Shiro coughed as they ran up to the bridge, helping Coran to his feet.

"I'm not sure," he groaned.

"The crystal," Allura gasped looking up as the smoke cleared, taking a few steps forwards, she gasped as she saw an unmoving form on the ground. "Lance!"

Shiro moved first, going to pick him up Jaz grabbed his arm and knelt next to him checking for a pulse. "He's alive," she said carefully shaking his shoulder trying to get him to respond. "Lance? Lance!"

"He's not responding," Shiro winced.

"We have to get him to the infirmary!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Without the crystal, the Castle has no power," Allura stated.

"He doesn't look good," Shiro murmured.

"No, he doesn't," Jaz stated putting her hair up. "Healing magic isn't my forte, but I'll do my best."

"Lion warriors! Our village is under attack! We need help!" the Arusian king exclaimed as his ran in.

"We should get to the Lions," Keith said.

"You can't, they're sealed in their hangars. There's no way to get them out. We're defenseless," Allura nervously bit her lip.

"Will you not help us?"

"We'll help. We just…" Keith trailed off before glancing at Jaz.

Seeing what he was silently asking, she nodded. Now was a good a time to use his powers as any, they could probably use the bond with the lions as an excuse if anyone saw.

"This is bad."

"We need a new crystal to get the Castle working again," Coran winced as he took his weight off Hunk, "but we need a ship."

"The pod I was loading! I left the bay doors open!" Pidge exclaimed.

"I can use the scanner on it to see if there's a Balmera nearby. Hunk come with me, I need someone big to help me carry that crystal."

"A Balmera?" Hunk asked.

"I'll explain on the way!" Coran said as he, Pidge, and Hunk raced from the room.

"I'll go see what's happening at the Arusian village," Keith stated.

"I'll go with you Keith. I brought this on the poor Arusians," Allura stated.

"It could be dangerous, I can't allow it," Keith stated silently wishing she'd back down. He couldn't use his Guardian stuff if she was nearby as a witness.

"I'm coming with," she growled.

"You may need backup Keith," Shiro stated before the younger man could protest. "You two go, Jaz and I will tend to Lance."

Girtting his teeth the Red Paladin left with the princess as the two Kerberos pilots knelt next to Lance. "Shiro go guard the door, I have a feeling the culprit of this will be here soon, I'll do my best to treat him," Jaz stated before closing her eyes and putting her glowing hands on the injured Cuban teen.

Nodding his head, Shiro sprinted down the stairs to guard the main entrance. He was not going to let anyone near his friends that easily.

And it appears that he wasn't a moment too soon; Sendak and his men were marching for the Castle doors.

"Sendak," he growled activating his arm.

"Stand aside."

"No. You're not getting in."

"Yes. I am," he stated narrowing his eye before hurling his own prosthetic forwards on an arch of dark energy, grabbing the Paladin's arm and dragging him to his feet.

Shiro grunted as he was dropped, and rolled out of the way as the Galra Commander slammed his fist down on where he had once been. Activating his arm, he lunged and swiped at the Galra Commander, his arm skidding along Sendak's own prosthetic limb. He rolled out of the way as Sendak swung, before leaping up to get the Galra's head. Sendak stepped out of Shiro's way, slamming his fist down again as the Champion continued to evade, rolling out of yet another attempted strike.

Swinging both of their fists forwards, the clang of metal echoed as the prosthetics clashed. "I see you spent some time with the druids, they do love to experiment," Sendak sneered hoping to rile the Champion. "Too bad you didn't get the latest model."

A large burst of energy came from the Galra's arm, shot the limb forwards, and Sending Shiro sliding back and flying into the Castle entryway. Rolling to a stop on the floor, he groaned, getting up in time to scramble back as Sendak's hand came flying after him, claws burying deep into the ground. Regaining his footing, Shiro watched as the Galra flew after him, grabbing his arm as he came back down, he used the extra momentum to swing Sendak over his shoulder and slam him into the ground.

Charging forwards, Shiro slid to his knees and brought his hand to Sendak's throat as the Galra's glowing claws were just inches from his own.

Then, Shiro heard the sound of a blaster powering up behind his head.

-.-

Jaz glanced to the door now and then as she heard fighting downstairs, seems the Galra got here quicker than she thought. Lance still hadn't been responding to her, but her minor training in healing magic seemed to be keeping him stable for now.

From what she could tell, the Blue Paladin had sustained a serious concussion, broken a couple ribs, his left leg was sporting a serious fracture, and there was internal bleeding. She kept he magic focused on the bleeding because it would be the most serious and she wasn't willing to mess with the head, one wrong move there and she could possibly cripple him.

Hearing the door open she looked away from Lance again, only to freeze as Shiro's limp form was tossed in as Sendak stood with his men wearing a dark smirk.

"So, it seems we have Sorceress as well as the Champion and Voltron," he smiled. "Perfect."

-.-

"What's happening?" Allura asked as she and Keith ran up to the Arusians by their burning village.

"Look! Attackers!" the King pointed and Keith could make out the vague forms of the Galra sentries standing in the middle of the village.

"I'll go in for a closer look! Stay with them!" he called to Allura before jumping into the fire.

He could hear Allura call out to him as he jumped in, and as soon as he was out of view he switched from Paladin to Guardian armor, his helmet bringing in clean air so the smoke wouldn't affect him. Looking around he almost froze as the image of the fires just after the first bombs dropped on his home came to him, but he shook it off. He was thousands of lightyears away from Terra and far from the Cabal's reach.

Racing through the burning buildings and ignoring the shades of the past his mind gave, he began to get closer to the area he saw the sentries.

There! In the center of the plaza, just like the first wave of the Cabal had been…only…why weren't they moving? Pulling out his gun he zoomed in with the scope.

"They're damaged," he murmured before his eyes widened. "Allura! It's a diversion! Get back to the Castle! I'm right behind you!"

/Keith—!/

"Just go!" he ordered. "Yorak, find the fastest route out of the village and back to the Castle via sparrow!"

_"__Head south,"_ Yorak said as the navigational scanner appeared in the upper corner of his helmet with the familiar blue arrow.

Whipping around he raced through the burning village, before reaching the edge, out of sight from Allura or any Arusians. Summoning his Quick Death, he shot towards the Castle.

Glancing to his side he could make out Allura's smaller form racing to the Castle on the path. "Yorak, what would be the best way to enter besides the main entrance. We need to avoid the guards and take out the commanders first."

_"__Um…the hangar Katie left open! From what I've scanned from the terrain around the Castle, there will be a ridge that might just give you enough air to get into the hangar, however, you'll have to be very fast, or we will fall and you will die."_

"Got it," Keith smirked turning the sparrow. Pushing full throttle he sped through and got in line with the ridge Yorak was talking about. "Let's do this."

They shot to the area full speed, going up and off the natural ridge to the hangar…and then a violet particle barrier blocked their path.

Keith grunted in pain as he slammed hard into the barrier before falling to the ground and feeling pain explode in his back before everything went dark.

After a few moments, he shot up with a gasp, dropping his helmet as he drew in air, before glaring up at the barrier. "Really?" he growled getting up and punching it with everything he had. "Why. Won't. You. Fall!?"

_"__Let me check it out."_

"Fine," he grumbled swinging his left hand and letting Yorak materialize. "What do you see?"

"Well, it's made out of the same stuff as the Blue Lion's barrier was, I reckon all the Lions barriers match this."

"Do you see a way though?"

"Well…we could try digging under it, but that could take a while," Yorak commented. "Have you tried using Light?"

"You know I don't like using it," Keith frowned crossing his arms.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Fine, hide again, we don't know what the repercussions could be," he sighed and Yorak vanished in a flash of light.

Walking up to the barrier he tapped it debating on which attack to use; a supercharge would give him a lot of power, but unfortunately it was very hard to control currently, using a grenade would be stupid, leaving his barrier ability. It was more stable unlike his supercharge so he could maybe manipulate it around his hand to give leverage and then expand it into a door for him to go through.

It was worth a shot, and even then it would stave off his…pains for a little while.

Electricity crackled along his fingertips, sparking with a red-violet light as it tried to form the protective barrier he'd first summoned by accident one time in a battle against the Fallen. Slamming his hands onto the shield surrounding the Castle he began to force the energy into the barrier and started to expand the shield.

And then it all blew up in his face and killed him for the second time that night.

Sitting up, Keith patted his singed hair before exchanging his Guardian armor for Paladin. "So much for that," he huffed, racing up the ridge using his jetpack, and running onto the path where Allura was knocking her fist against the barrier. "It locked you out too?"

"Where were you?!"

"Trying to find another way in, no luck," he growled.

"We need to find a way fast. Whoever has taken control of the Castle has a crystal, meaning they'll be able to fly the ship."

"Is there a secret way to enter the castle?" Keith asked.

"No."

"…Do we have enough time to dig under the barrier?"

"Even if we did it would still block us!"

/Keith, can you hear me?/ Pidge said over the comms.

"Pidge! Is that you? Where are you?" he asked.

/Inside the Castle, Sendak has taken over the ship and he's preparing for launch. He's got Lance, Shiro, and Jaz/ she replied.

"Pidge listen, if they've started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time before liftoff to stop it."

/What do I have to do?/

"You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the central energy chamber. If you can do that, Sendak will need to reset the whole system. That might give us enough time to find a way to stop them."

"Would it bring down the particle barrier?" Keith asked looking at Allura.

"No."

"Qrugh."

"Do you mean 'Quiznack'?" Allura asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"No I meant Qrugh," he stated repeating the Faen curse word.

/Ok Allura, I'm near the turbine, they're starting the launch/ Pidge called.

"Then you'll need to hurry. Cross the catwalk to the main column in the center."

/Ok./

"Now, open the hatch. Find the central computer control hub and enter the following sequence," Allura stated and Keith's eyes widened, Pidge didn't know Altean.

/Wait. Wait. Wait! Which is it? All the labels are in Altean!/

Keith turned away from Allura, pulling up a holoscreen on his gauntlet. "Yorak pull up a copy of the system controls."

_"__On it, but I don't think we have time to translate the sequence for her."_

"Can we input it from here?"

_ "__No, and the ship is about to launch. If we remain here Allura will be killed by the thrusters."_

"What about me?"

_"__You're immortal, you'll be fine."_

"Thanks," he grumbled putting the screen away and grabbing Allura's arm. "We need to back out of range."

"I lost connection with Pidge!" Allura exclaimed.

The rumbling of the engines suddenly powered down.

_"__Guess Pidge figured it out without our help."_

"Probably improvised."

"Huh?"

"Pidge! Probably figured out a way to stop the launch," he covered quickly. "C'mon! Let's find a way in!"

"The mice!" Allura exclaimed. "Maybe they can help!"

"…The mice?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed closing her eyes.

"You've lost me," Keith said raising an eyebrow.

-.-

"Shiro, are you ok?" Jaz whispered as she saw the Black Paladin starting to stir.

He winced blinking a couple times to clear his vision. "Head hurts," he grunted quietly before looking at her. The Awoken woman had a busted lip, a on her cheek, and her jaw was bruised. "You?"

"I've taken worse," she grunted trying to undo the cuffs on her hands before grunting as a sentry hit her with the butt of its gun. Spitting out some of her silver-blue blood, she glared up at the sentry. "Fhsusc'hhk'h yrohsus!"

Shiro may have been rusty in Eliksni, but he did not need a translator to know what that meant.

Both their heads shot up as they heard Allura's voice over the comms.

/There's not much time left before they get the ship running again. You must shut off the particle barrier so we can get inside./

/You got it/ Katie's voice rang out, /Tell me what to do/

/The particle barrier generator is beneath the main hull/

"She's telling the intruder how to take out our defenses!"

"Good for her," Jaz said.

"But she's also giving away his location," Sendak smiled. "Find that room! Kill the paladin!"

"Draaf," they both cursed as the sentries guarding them left.

Jaz glanced at the robots then at the Galra as they continued working on the console. Smirking she lied down and began to contort her way through her arms to get her hands to her front without dislocating her shoulders.

"Zu'u dreh ni lorot tol fen kroson [I don't think that will work]," Shiro whispered staring at her as she got to her shins and seemed to almost get stuck.

"Fund ni krosan waan dii haal lost dyggif fohidwra pahvoth, pruzah yunrot, tilro raf nix dyggt [Wouldn't work if my hands were cuffed directly together, good news, there's a gap between the cuffs]," she smirked stopping as Haxus briskly walked by.

Shiro, looked behind at his own cuffs then at Jaz, seeing she was now bending her back in a strange arch as she started to wriggle her arms to her knees trying to get the cuffs past. Shrugging he began trying to copy her, maybe with his hands in front he could find a way to use his arm to melt the cuff off without hurting himself.

"Haxus! Report in! Haxus!" Sendak snapped.

/Haxus is gone and you're next!/ Pidge snapped.

Sendak visibly bristled and his ears went flat. "You may've slowed me down but this ship is mine! You will turn yourself over to me immediately!"

/Never!/

Sendak turned, looking at the oddly positioned Black Paladin with a smirk. "Well then maybe your leader could convince you," he smirked walking over and grabbing Shiro.

"What do you want?"

"Your friend would like to hear from you."

"Sendak if you hurt him I swear no one will be able to save you!" Jaz hissed threateningly.

/Shiro? Jaz?/

"Pidge? Pidge, don't listen to—AHHH," he screamed as Sendak's electrified claws buried into his shoulder, sending shocks throughout his body.

**/NO!/**

"HI FIROK! GETIID ZU'U OFAAL NII BO WAH KRII HI!" Jaz cursed.

"You can make it stop. Turn yourself in. His suffering is in your hands," Sendak sneered.

"PIDGE! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Jaz shouted getting to her feet and shooting a small energy ball at Sendak blasting him back away from Shiro. "Turn off the barrier!"

Jaz dropped and rolled under Sendak's arm sending a quick shot of electricity his way like she'd seen Guardians do before. The Galra Commander caught the lightning with the energy from his arm causing an explosion that blasted him back into the wall. Looking up, Sendak's eye widened as Jaz's foot collided with his face, making him spit out some of his dark violet blood.

Baring his teeth and with ears pinned to his skull, Sendak growled and lunged forwards swinging with his prosthetic he watched as she rolled under it and rammed him in the gut before he used his regular arm to grab her and hurl the gladiator into the wall. He heard a snap over her pained cry, and he took to opportunity to use his advanced arm to pin her by her torso.

Sendak toyed with the idea of crushing her in his grasp, it would be all too easy, but it wouldn't make her suffer. Coursing electricity through his arm like he had with Champion, he reveled in Sorceress' screams, before he released her and she fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Jaz!" Shiro called weakly as his consciousness began to return, eyes widening at spotting his friend lying at Sendak's feet.

Sendak chuckled picking her up and tossing her next to Shiro, making him wince as her form slammed into the ground next to him. "I'm impressed you two managed to escape. Perhaps it would be worth a trip to your solar system to see if the rest of it has the same spirit as you two. Of course, they'll all end up broken, just as you were. Now that we have Voltron, every planet, every race, all share the same fate."

"You'll never win," he grunted glaring up at the big-eared reymraf, "not as long as people are willing to fight for their freedom."

Sendak laughed. "Please, as if that means anything."

The monitors beeped and he went over, eye widening as he saw the barriers fall. Typing on the console, his eye narrowed as he spotted the Green Paladin. Turning around, he growled as he saw the smaller human making him lunge forwards, as his eye caught the real one hiding behind the pillar. Running passed, he let the Paladin think they tricked him.

"Shiro! Jaz! Wake-up! It's me—"

Sendak sent his arm out and plucked the tiny Paladin from the ground, slowly starting to squeeze him. "You really thought your little hologram trick would work on me? Do I look stupid?"

"Yes," Keith said pulling out his sword as he and Allura stood at the entrance to the bridge.

Sendak grit his teeth and glared at the Red Paladin, he turned around and held the small one up as a shield. "Stand back."

A blast hit the commander from the back, knocking him to the ground and making him release Pidge as Lance sat up breathing heavily holding his bayard, before he fainted again. Shiro took the chance to lunge at Sendak, kicking out with a leg, before he was smacked aside.

Keith narrowed his eyes and charged up, not bothering to hold back as his sword collided with the arm, making a sizable cut in the limb.

Sendak's eye widened in shock, not even the Champion with his own arm had been able to deal damage like that! How could a normal Solian…his train of thought was stopped as a brutal kick slammed into his gut and Sendak felt something break. This wasn't normal, Champion and Sorceress had never been able to deliver blows like these in the arena with hand-to-hand combat, not even after Champion got the new limb.

His theory seemed to be further proved when he swung with his regular arm and the Red Paladin blocked his hit with a single hand. Using his prosthetic, he grabbed the red one and hurled him away when the Green Paladin rushed up and severed the energy link keeping his hand connected to his body.

Keith growled and tossed Sendak's arm aside as he shot to his feet. Rushing back over he swung his sword fully intending to kill him, when Sendak blocked him with his normal hand.

Sendak grit his teeth as the Red Paladin continued pushing the blade closer, his eyes burning bright with a fire that unnerved him. Champion's and Sorceress' eyes burned with a fiery drive to survive, the Red Paladin's burned with a fire he'd only ever seen in one place…and Haxus had reported strong disturbances and a near breach in the barrier. There was only one thing Sendak knew of that could do that—whose eyes glowed like that…but it was impossible…

"Keith now!" Allura called and Keith jumped, kicking his legs into Sendak's gut, before letting his bayard fall into normal form as he caught himself in a back handspring and got to his feet immediately summoning the blade. Looking at Sendak he smirked as the Galra stood there uselessly punching the barrier.

"LET ME OUT!"

Keith flipped him off.

-.-

"After a day in here, they should be fully healed," Allura stated as they all stood outside Lance's and Jaz's healing pods.

"Pidge we can't thank you enough for that you did," Shiro said as they all turned to the Green Paladin. "I can't help but feel you were meant to be part of this team…but I understand if you want to leave."

She glanced to the ground before looking up at them. "Dad used to tell me how close he was with his crew members. They were like family, granted my brother was family, but now I understand what he was talking about," she said. "I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon, for all our families."

Keith smiled. "Good to have you back on the team."


	8. Flirting With Disaster

Chapter 8

**A/N: I just own this story, nothing else besides Jaz and Darvah (and a few other OCs in there somewhere) are mine.**

**_Yorak talking to Guardian/flashbacks_**

**_/comm-links/_**

**Bold is intercoms.**

"Steady there," Shiro said as they all crowded around Jaz as she got out of the cryopod.

"Thanks," she smiled trying to stand on her own before losing her balance and falling into Shiro who smirked as she gave him a deadpan look. "Don't even think of saying it."

"How are you feeling?" Hunk asked wanting to hug her, but unsure how to approach the woman currently trying to get her own feet under her.

"Like my legs fell asleep," Jaz replied pitching forwards and stepping out in a wide stance with her arms flailed out.

"I dare you to try to run," Keith smirked and Jaz gave a sarcastic laugh.

"No. My friends and I did that once, never again."

"You sure you don't want to sit down for a little while?" Allura inquired. "Cryosleep can cause adverse effects afterwards. It's typically best to just wait for them to wear off."

"I'm sure," Jaz said slowly standing up straight. "How's Lance?"

"Well…" Hunk trailed off as he and Pidge crowded around his pod again, "I can't tell if he looks healthy or not."

"I think he's breathing weird," Katie commented.

"Really?" Jaz questioned taking a single step forwards and almost landing flat on her face.

"You ok?" Keith asked helping her up.

"My legs are still uncooperative," she grumbled looking up to Shiro, she motioned him down.

"What?" he asked looking worried. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, turn around."

"Why?" he asked.

Losing her patience, Jaz, grabbed onto his shoulders, dragged her useless legs around to his back, and moved his hands under her legs. "Move it ponyboy."

Shiro groaned as he heard the stifled snickers of Keith and Katie, he was never going to live this down. Actually, there was a lot of things he would never live down, especially all the stupid stuff he, Adam, Darvah, and Matt had done together.

But he had to make sure Matt and Darvah never got wind of this, otherwise he'd be tackled at random for a piggyback ride by either the gangly technician when they found him, or the several-hundred-pound Eliksni when they found him. It happened before, after Matt found some old medical comedy called _Scrubs_ on the internet and they watched an episode out of pure boredom. Needless to say the tackling amnesiac quickly became an inside joke of the group and they would randomly tackle each other in a full sprint screaming "Who am I?!" when they were least expecting it. Actually…last Shiro checked he and Darvah were tied for the lead, and Matt was unfortunately in last place due to the fact Adam dodged a jump, resulting in the communications officer tackling Iverson.

At least now they were mostly crowding around the Blue Paladin's pod instead of focusing on his predicament.

"Oh come on," Keith groaned going to poke the barrier.

"Not yet!" Allura scolded, swatting his hand. "A few more ticks."

"How much better do you think he's gonna get in a few more ticks?" Keith pointed out.

"He's got a point," Jaz added.

"What exactly is a tick?" Pidge questioned.

"You know, a time slice."

"Like a second?" Shiro asked raising an eyebrow and adjusting his grip on Jaz.

"What's a 'second'?" Allura asked turning to face them.

"You know: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one blast off," Jaz replied quickly.

"Like this," Pidge said pulling her phone out of her pocket and starting the timer.

"…I think ticks are bigger."

"I hate time telling differences," the Awoken woman grumbled as Shiro nodded in agreement.

"Coran, do you have a ticker?" Allura called and they all looked to where the ginger Altean was working on the console.

"Right here Princess," he replied pulling a small device out of his pocket.

"I think ticks are a little slower," Hunk commented as he and Pidge looked between the two devices.

"I can't tell. We have to start them at the same time," Pidge stated and they started resetting their timers.

"Ok, ready, go!"

Starting their timers, they began watching the two trying to compare seconds and ticks. "I think we're winning," Hunk cheered.

"Winning at what? The intergalactic time measuring competition?" Keith retorted.

"I think ticks might be a bit longer," Jaz muttered, "Shiro move around Coran, I can't see."

They got so absorbed trying to figure out whose telling of time was shorter or longer, none of them heard the pod open up or saw Lance stumble over, managing to stay up unlike Jaz, but he couldn't seem to walk in a straight line.

Peering over their shoulders, Lance tiredly narrowed his eyes. Were they…racing clocks? "…Are you guys having a clock party or something?"

"Aw Lance you ruined it," Hunk scolded turning around, before instantly perking up and hugging him upon seeing his best friend out of the pod and alive.

"What happened?"

"We can explain it once we've gotten you and Jaz something to eat. Are you able to walk?" Allura asked.

"Talking? Eating? Are you asking me out on a date?" he smiled.

"Yep."

"There it is."

"He's ok."

"Classic."

"Can we go get food now?"

-.-

"You'd all be in Sendak's prison right now if it wasn't for Pidge," Allura finished explaining as Lance and Jaz happily ate the offered food goo.

"Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion from Sendak's bomb and even Jaz would've had some permanent injuries if it wasn't for Hunk and Coran getting that new crystal," Pidge stated.

"Wow, thanks everyone," Lance said. "Sorry you got hurt Jaz."

"It's fine, trust me when I say I've taken much worse, as hard as it is to believe."

"Though, it sounds like the mice did more than you Keith," Lance smirked and the other boy looked offended.

"I punched Sendak!"

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot off his arm."

"We had a bonding moment," Keith protested looking very miffed, "I cradled you in my arms!"

"Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen," Lance stated. "So what happened to Sendak?"

"Keith and Coran got him into a cryopod," Allura stated. "We're keeping him here in the Castle."

"You sure that's a good idea?"

"He's too dangerous to set free," Allura stated.

"Not to mention we could use this opportunity to see what secrets he knows," Jaz smirked, cracking her knuckles.

"So what's the plan now?" Lance asked, scooching away from the suddenly intimidating Awoken pilot.

"We have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people," Hunk answered instantly.

"Wow, you are really hung up on this chick."

"No, it's not like that," Hunk said. "Look guys, when you see how Zarkon's treated these people and destroyed their home—They've been under his thumb for so long they don't even know what it's like to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a Paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up."

"Then let's get moving," Shiro stated.

"Wait," Pidge said, standing up from where she was sitting, looking nervous, "I have something I need to get off my chest first and I'm afraid this might change the way you think about me. Just so there's no more secrets between us anymore, I can't 'man up'. I'm a girl. I mean, I can 'man up' in a figure of speech, I don't need to be a man to do that, I just need to be tough. But what I'm say is—"

"WHAT?! YOU'RE A GIRL!?" Lance screamed making her jump. "HOW?!"

"Lance, there's this thing called biology," Jaz said smirking sinisterly, "you see, when a man and a woman love each other very much—"

"That's enough from you!" Shiro said putting the woman in a headlock and covering her mouth.

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've decided to share with everyone," Allura smiled.

"Yeah I figured," Hunk said.

"I've known since we got Shiro and Jaz from the Garrison," Keith smirked.

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran asked.

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin," Shiro smiled still trying to hold Jaz before she grabbed his arm and hurled him over her shoulder.

"Feels good to get that off my chest," she sighed. "Now let's launch this Castle-Ship!"

"Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the Castle is a ship? How long have I been out?"

"Probably not long enough," Jaz breathed, "now continuing onto what I was saying…"

"Bye!" Lance yelped sprinting away.

Getting changed into their Paladin armor, everyone went up to the bridge and sat down in their seats, as Coran and Allura got to the consoles. "Activate interlock."

"Dynotherms connected."

"Mega-thrusters are go."

"We are ready to depart Arus on your mark Princess," Coran stated.

"Firing main engines for launch."

The ship began rumbling, and the sound of the rocks surrounding the castle could barely be heard over the roar of the engines. They all noticed they could barely feel the pressure of leaving the atmosphere that was a common occurrence upon the rockets Earth made for space exploration and trade.

Once they left the planet, they got up and gathered around trying to come up with a plan for the Balmera situation. "So what do you think, what do you think?" Hunk started pacing. "Do we just roll up and start blasting? Or do we land and have some kind of address system, like 'Attention Galra, this is Voltron. Surrender now and turn yourselves in'? No, it's blasting right?"

"Hunk," Keith said making a calming gesture, "calm down. And yes blasting."

_"__Never thought I'd see you calm someone down,"_ Yorak commented.

"Nyke gīda ao ilagon mirre se jēda [I calm you down all the time]," Keith quietly retorted.

"It's our first big rescue mission," Shiro smiled defending Hunk. "He's just excited."

"Excited to see his new girlfriend," Pidge sang.

Hank gasped, looking mildly offended. "She's not my girlfriend! She's just a rock that I met and admire very much."

"Mm-hmm," Jaz grinned. "You're awfully concerned about her."

"She was captured by the Galra! How could I not be?" Hunk replied as the blue-haired Awoken woman began circling him.

"So when we free her, what are you going to do?" Jaz asked tilting her head innocently. "Check for injuries, patch her up and send her on with her family?"

"Well, Shay hasn't ever seen the sky, so I'll—hey!" Hunk stopped as he saw her grin.

"Jaz, stop patronizing the cadets," Shiro sighed tossing her a tired look.

"Back at the Garrison you were worse than I was Takashi," Jaz quipped. "Or do I need to mention the tribute incident?"

Shiro's eyes widened and the look of betrayal appeared on his face, "Et tu Brute?"

Lance looked like he was about to press the issue, only to stop as the alarms went off.

"What is it? Are we being attacked?" Shiro called quickly turning around, and silently thanking Kami-sama for the distraction.

"No, it's a distress beacon," Coran answered typing on the monitors.

"It's coming from a nearby moon," Allura continued, "apparently a ship's lost power."

"Does the moon have a breathable atmosphere?" Jaz asked.

"Yes?"

"Then they can wait."

"Wonder who it is?" Pidge asked.

"I'm with Jaz, whoever it is will have to wait," Hunk stated, "Shay and her people have first priority. We can help them when we're done."

"The Paladin Code states we must help all those in need," Allura replied.

"Does it specify when?" Jaz questioned, getting a glare from the Altean Princess. "Ok, geez, just a question."

"Wow, this is so cool, it's like we're space cops on space patrol," Lance said.

_"__He used one too many 'space' in that sentence,"_ Yorak commented again, and Keith grunted in reply.

"Coran, do we have a siren we can turn on?" Lance asked.

"Uh, no, but we could record you making a siren noise and broadcast that," he replied and Lance grinned.

As the Blue Paladin began to try to imitate a siren, Shiro turned around and slapped his hand over his mouth. "Nope, not doing that."

Arriving at the coordinates, they saw a small ship on the surface of the small moon, the light of a fire shining next to it.

Allura walked over to the console and spoke calmly into the intercoms, "Attention damaged craft, this is Princess Allura. We are coming to assist you." Landing the ship, she turned to Coran. "Stary aboard and try to get as many of our systems clear of that Galra crystal energy as you can. We'll see who hailed us."

"Yes Princess," Coran nodded.

"Need help?" Jaz asked walking over to the advisor.

"Sure thing Jaz!" Coran smiled as the pair walked off to work on the Castle systems.

The rest of them went to a landing craft at the bottom of the Castle and went to the small landing pod at the bottom of the Castle. After a short drop to the ground, the doors opened revealing a purple alien male wearing some sort of cropped vest and pants and a yellow alien chick with solid violet eyes, white face, four weird hair thingys, and wearing a blue two-pieces outfit.

_"__Wonder if that guy's part Galra, I mean, he's purple, so he might be,"_ Yorak commented and Keith nodded. While he highly doubted it, he couldn't deny it was a possibility, but there were plenty of races with purple skin besides the Galra; the Fae, the Awoken, the Alteans—though Alteans could change color at will—and the Alasian; they all had members of their populations with purple skin tones. And those were just the some species he knew of, not counting the hybrids of each race.

"You don't know how glad we are to see some friendly faces," the purple guy said crossing his arms.  
"Most folks don't wanna get tangled up with anyone who's on the run from the Galra."

"So you guys are fighting against the Galra?" Keith asked, feeling stupid as soon as the question left his mouth. Of course, after a few thousand years a resistance against the empire would build, people of any race did not like being subjugated to slave labor. Heck, considering most cultural norms of any society there logically had to be some Galra resistance, though with how long Zarkon's been ruling that would mean they'd either failed, got wiped out, were in hiding, or by this point in time the Galra worship Zarkon as a deity.

"I don't think Zarkon's quaking in his boots at the three of us, but we do what we can," the man replied. "I'm Rolo."

_"__Like the candy?"_ Yorak asked and Keith chose to ignore him.

"This is Nyma and our cyber unit, Beezer."

"Hi," Nyma said and Keith could hear Lance swoon instantly.

A small blur went passed and they saw Pidge examining the robot with wide eyes sparkling like she was an anime character. "Cool robot!"

"Gōntan ao sesīr ūndegon zirȳla dīnagon [Did you even see her move]?" Keith asked Yorak.

_"__No."_

"I didn't see her move either," Shiro whispered getting the gist of whatever Keith was muttering as they both stared at Pidge in shock.

"Hi, name's Lance," the Blue Paladin said taking Nyma's hand.

"Skori gōntan ziry dīnagon [When did he move]?!" Keith said.

_"__Probably at the same time Pidge did, I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner."_

Shiro looked away from the surprisingly fast teenagers back to Rolo so they could stay on task, "Was your ship damaged in a fight?"

"Yeah, we've really been through it with the Galra, parts are hard to come by, luckily we were able to limp to this moon about a week ago. If you didn't pick up our distress signal I—"

"We're happy to help," Allura interrupted, stepping forwards. "I am Princess Allura of Altea, and from now on, you won't be alone fighting the Galra. You'll have the Paladins of Voltron by your side."

Keith raised an eyebrow at Rolo's confused expression as he glanced to Pidge and Lance fooling around, before looking back to them. "Ok," he replied, seeming a little underwhelmed.

"I don't think they've heard of us," Shiro said.

"It has been ten thousand years," Keith pointed out.

"Voltron? You know? Five robot lions that combine into this big robot…dude?" Lance tried to explain.

"Sounds impressive. I'd love to see it—him—them…"

"Why don't we just get to work on your ship? I'm sure we all have places to be," Hunk suggested and Keith looked at him in surprise, he'd never heard Hunk sound so…harsh?

Yorak seemed shocked too because, Keith could feel him itching to come out as his nervousness and curiosity grew together. _"Are we certain that's really Hunk? I could scan him and make sure—"_

"Daor [No]."

"Sure," Rolo said leading Hunk over to a panel and opening it. "Looks to me that our whole flaxum assembly's shot. I don't know what kind of extra parts you guys carry in this rig of yours. I've never seen anything like it."

"I'm sure we can get you back up and running. Give Hunk a list of what you need, Coran can show you where to find it," Allura said as Shiro punched lance in the shoulder to try and remind him that this wasn't the time for flirting.

"Ok," Hunk said.

"We can go too. Don't want you to have to carry all that stuff yourself," Rolo offered, "Come on guys."

"Uh, I don't think so," Hunk stated crossing his arms. "You can wait out here."

"Hunk, don't be rude."

"Yeah, Hunk, mind your manners. There's ladies present," Lance scolded before making finger guns to Nyma.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but does anyone remember the last time we let our defenses down? Someone set off a bomb. Remember Lance? You almost died," Hunk reminded firmly.

"Oh yeah."

"I agree, we can't immediately trust everyone we stumble across, that'll just lead to more disasters," Keith stated crossing his arms.

"Hunk's right," Shiro agreed, silencing Lance's retort to the Red Paladin, "Sorry, but we have to be cautious."

"Hey, nothing personal, I get it," Rolo shrugged taking a paper Beezer printed, "that's how things are out here. You gotta look out for your own. You're doing a good job big man."

"Thanks," Hunk said taking the paper.

"Sure you don't need help?" Shiro asked as Hunk walked inside.

"Jaz can help!" he called back.

Nodding, they sat down around the fire to try and get to know these so called "rebels."

"…My planet was destroyed by the Galra and I was taken captive," Rolo finished. "I managed to escape…but, not before I lost something," rolling up a pantleg, he revealed the prosthetic limb."

"I know exactly how that feels," Shiro said moving his Galra arm.

"Pōnta vestragon naejot sagon fun se vahzen, skoros gaomagon ao pendagon [They seem to be telling the truth, what do you think]?" Keith whispered quietly. Unlike their counterparts, ghosts seemed to have an uncanny ability to tell when people were being honest or not, so if Keith had trouble reading a situation, he'd ask his oldest friend to give him the run down. His gut was normally right, but even he could make mistakes, don't get him wrong, Yorak made plenty of mistakes too, but he just appeared to make less.

_"__Well…Rolo's being honest about the story."_

"Yn [But]?"

_"…__I'm not buying it, the story about the landing. Something about it just seems off to me."_

Keith bit the inside of his cheek as Yorak said that; that's what he was afraid of.

"Well, I hope there's some parts in here, that'll fit," Hunk said as he and Jaz brought the supplied down. "You know to get your ship moving?"

"Thanks!"

"So, what can you tell us about Zarkon's forces?" Allura questioned as Pidge rode Beezer past, Jaz quickly chasing after to keep the younger girl from hurting herself. "Where are they concentrated?"

"Well, the command ship sits right at the center of the Empire," Rolo replied, "he mostly calls the shots from there and lets his minions do the dirty work depending on who's the closest. This is the turf of a real nasty bugger named Sendak."

"Oh, we met," Keith grumbled.

"How far are we from the center?" Shiro asked.

"We're way out on the Empire's fringes."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Hunk said walking over, "but I think you guys are keeping Rolo from working on his ship. You see man, we're kinda in a hurry. A hero named Shay saved my life, and I swore to do the same for her and her people. You understand."

"Sure, sorry," he apologized, getting to his feet and going over to the supplies to start working.

"Hunk, we're going to get going soon, but I think Rolo might have some info that could be helpful to us," Shiro said putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't trust this guy as far as I can throw him," Hunk replied. "I think we should leave him with the box of parts and say 'Adios amigo'!"

"Wow, Hunk, never thought I'd hear that from you," Jaz commented crossing her arms.

"I hate to say it, but I might be with Hunk on this," Keith voiced. "Something doesn't seem right."

"Hey bud! Sorry, but do you think you can hunt down a length of thermal pipe, about yay long?" Rolo called, making an estimated size with his hands.

"On the way," Hunk groaned going back inside.

"So are there more freedom fighters?" Shiro asked.

"Only those who haven't been colonized yet, or the lucky few like us who managed to escape," Rolo replied.

"Well, we're gonna change that," Keith stated.

"That's good to hear, but I've gotta warn you, it's pretty bad out there. You don't know what you're up against."

"Trust me sweetie, we've seen worse," Jaz smirked as she and Keith shared a look.

Shiro frowned at that, he knew Jaz used to be part of some of the Reef's more…classified missions, but even during their time in prison—that he could remember—she hadn't told him what she was put up against, what gave her those scars on her side, what gave Darvah similar claw and bite marks on his arms and chest. Was it really worse than the Galra? What on Earth could be that bad it made the Galra seem pleasant in comparison?

And what did Keith know about it? There was little in Keith's past Shiro didn't know about: his mother left when he was a baby, he was raised by his firefighter father, he had visited the Reef many times since it was likely Keith was part Awoken (at least that was Shiro's theroy since Keith and Jaz had grown up as close friends and he never explained the details of his father's connections with the Reef, and glowing violet was _not_ a human eye color). His father had reportedly died in the line of duty and because there was no living family Keith ended up in the foster system when he was fourteen.

But that didn't change the fact there were things Shiro still didn't know about his little brother. Keith had mentioned he was raised in Texas, but the US wasn't his home country, Shiro still didn't know what it was, but so far he was thinking either European basing it on his looks or Korea basing it on his last name. It didn't help him narrow it down by the fact Keith often cursed or talked to himself in languages he'd never heard before.

Shiro had once assumed that Mr. Kogane was fighter pilot since Keith once said he couldn't wait to be like his father, but then the kid told him he was a firefighter which only continued to confuse Shiro the more he got to know Keith. According to his brother, his father had shown him how to pilot and he would occasionally mention what sounded like military operations that sounded beyond classified—they were when Shiro checked later. Perhaps Mr. Kogane had once been black ops or special tactics? It would explain why the man had taught Keith so many languages and his connection to the Reef considering all the joint beyond-classified operations. That would also explain why Keith was such a terrifying force to be reckoned with during training, his father had probably trained him in self defense.

The sound of rockets pulled Shiro out of his thoughts and he looked up to see one of the lions fly out of their hangar and off to who knows where.

"Was that Lance?" Jaz asked as Hunk gave an exasperated noise.

"Let them have their fun," Rolo shrugged, "Thanks to you this thing's just about ready, so we can be on our way soon. Guess there was too many miles on that thing," he motioned to the pipe Hunk had in his hand before turning to continue working on his ship.

"Yeah…"

"Why doesn't Lance just listen," Keith grumbled, crossing his arms.

_"__Probably because he's thinking with what's between his legs rather than his brain,"_ Yorak replied.

"Does he even have a brain?" Keith muttered back.

_"__Quiznack, shots fired!"_

"I'm pretty sure Lance is just wanting to show our new friends some hospitality," Allura said, assuming he was grumbling to himself about the Blue Paladin's foolishness. While she had to agree, they had a point about keeping people they didn't know out of the Castle considering Sendak's trap, but these Solians could at least show a little more decorum.

"I bet that he's going to get into trouble before the end of the day," Jaz stated.

"I bet a thousand glimmer it's within the hour," Keith said leaning against the ship.

"You're on!"

"We are not gambling that Lance will get into trouble!" Shiro scolded.

_"__Killjoy."_

"I think this thing's about ready for a test flight!" Rolo said coming out and closing the hatch. "Beezer come with! Back in a tick!" he rushed inside the ship, the small droid following after and the door closing behind them.

A moment later, the engines started up and the ship took off.

"I bet in five minutes we get a call from Lance, everyone start heading for your lions," Shiro sighed.

"How many ticks have they been gone?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know," Allura said. "I hope they didn't break down again."

"Something ain't right," Hunk grumbled as they walked inside.

/Guys?! Hello? Little help?/

"Lance?" Shiro asked as they put their helmets on. "Are you alright? What's going on?"

/Well…I'm kinda…chained to a tree/

"I knew it!"

"I win! Pay up Jaz!"

/And it think Nyma and Rolo just stole the Blue Lion/

"I KNEW IT!"

"Where are they?"

/Uh…space?/

"Ugh! I never trusted those guys, right from the beginning!" Hunk exclaimed as the Paladins got into their respective shuts to reach the lions. /At first it was in my gut, but when I was replacing that pipe, the pipe was cracked, however none of the hardware around it was damaged!/

"Ok! We get it!" Keith said pinching the bridge of his nose as he landed into the speeder.

/If the thermal pipe's cracked then there'd be damage to the entire assembly should be totally roasted/

"Hunk, we get it."

_"__Please make it stop."_

"Iksan sylugon'are [I'm trying]," he replied, gritting his teeth as Hunk's rambling was starting to get on his nerves.

/We should've had to replace the entire undercarriage of that reactor. So right then I was like positive that it was foul play/

**"****WE GET IT!"**

Shooting out of their hangars, they began tracking Rolo's ship to get the Blue Lion back. /It's not to far, but it's heading right for an asteroid belt/ Jaz warned.

/Thanks for the tip/

/We'll need to go around, I don't think we can fly through this/ Pidge warned.

/Maybe I can just bust through?/ Hunk suggested before the Yellow Lion shot forwards, ramming into an asteroid, causing it to bounce into another, which bounced into another, and set of a chain reaction of unpredictable giant space rock movement. /Nope! That was wrong! That was a bad idea!/

_"__No draaf."_

/Keith, you're the only one who could possibly fly through this/ Shiro called and Keith smirked /We need you buddy, get in there and flush him out/

"You got it. See ya on the other side," he grinned before Red bolted into the field, easily weaving through the colliding asteroids after Rolo's ship.

_"__I forgot how fun this was!"_

"Sepār hae biekopm rȳ se Sambrar Hydra [Just like weaving through the Sambrar Hydra]," Keith laughed, remembering that training session. Nothing but dead silence on the back of a Wyvern going through the Sambrar Canyons, a foggy realm filled with massive multi-headed serpents that would suddenly loom out of nowhere as they tried to eat those flying through.

Though at least he didn't have to worry about being eaten here, Yorak could help predict the asteroid movements, they had to rely on sheer dumb luck for the Hydra.

Bouncing off several asteroids, Keith could feel Red's excitement as they swiftly moved, racing up the side of a massive one on a collision course as they continued to give chase, seems his lion enjoyed skimming the razor's edge as much as he did.

Shooting off the asteroid, he could hear the sound of the two humongous rocks colliding behind him as he spotted Rolo's ship below; no way was he getting out of here now. At least in one piece.

_"__Blasters."_

"Nyke ūndegon zirȳ [I see them]," he answered pulling up as the blaster shots passed right underneath them. "Rȳ rietw issi verdagon ra opwihitwopm [At least they're making things interesting]."

/Keith! English! Please!/

"Fier lēda ziry [Deal with it]!" he replied, spinning Red under a shot and whirling her around, pressing the trigger and a blue blast shot out of her mouth towards the ship. Now they were on the offensive as Keith continued to chase them, starting to return their incoming fire as he expertly weaved between the asteroids, using them as cover to block the incoming shots.

"Jiōraton ao sir [Got ya now]," Keith smirked, only for his eyes to widen as they pulled straight up to avoid an asteroid. Pulling up, he narrowly avoided crashing into the rock, before he started the forward engines again. "Skoros'oe bisa gaomagon [What's this do]?" he asked pressing a flashing red button.

A blade of some sort materialized in Red's jaws, before she swung her head and the blade flew out of her mouth and hit the cannons on the craft.

_"__Whatever that was do it again!"_

"Daor jorrāelagon [No need]," Keith replied, setting the target. "Fire." Pressing the trigger, the beam shot out of his lion's mouth again, hitting the right engine. The ship began careening out of control towards the dark planet below.

_"__They've been caught by the planet's gravity! We'll need to pull them out before they crash!"_

Nodding, Keith thrust Red forwards and dug her claws into the ship, pulling it to a stop before reversing and yanking them out of orbit.

"Yeah!" he cheered. "Hey Lance, I got your lion back."

/Thanks Keith. Now, can you come and unchain me from this tree?/

"What's that? I, uh…you're cutting out. I can't—I can't hear you."

/Come on! I thought we bonded!/ Lance whined. /Keith! Buddy? My man?/

Keith started making a static sound into the comms, only for Shiro to ruin his moment of messing with Lance. /Stop tormenting him Keith!/

/You're no fun Shiro!/ Jaz whined. /Hold on Lance, I'll be there in a tick/

/Thanks Jazzy/

/Call me that again and I will leave you tied to that tree/

-.-

"Since your ship really doesn't work now, you'll have to wait here for a rescue," Keith stated as they all stood in front of the group of mercenaries.

"Thanks, for sparing our lives," Rolo said.

"Now that these guys are dealt with, let's get to the Balmera and save Shay and her family," Hunk said.

"Your girlfriend," Jaz coughed and Hunk tossed her a glare as she smiled cheekily.

"You may not believe this," Rolo said, "but I really hope you do stop Zarkon. It's a lifetime of fighting the Galra that led me where I am today."


	9. Gravity of Death

Chapter 9

**A/N: once again folks, I just own this story and the OCs involved in it, otherwise it ain't mine.**

**/comms/**

**"****Bold is ship intercoms"**

**_Flashbacks or Yorak talking to Keith privately._**

"We'll be arriving at the Balmera soon," Allura said as they began their final approach to the Galra-inhabited creature, "Liberating these Balmerans from Zarkon's grasp will not be easy."

"So what's the plan?" Lance asked. "We just go in there and just—pow, pow, pow!" He moved his hands into guns, aiming randomly around the room. "And free the prisoners?"

"What was that?" Keith asked raising an eyebrow.

"Laser guns."

_"__Laser guns don't sound like that."_

"No Lance, I think you mean—phew, phew, phew!" Hunk corrected before moving his hands up in the air like he was imitating a cannon. "Pow!"

"That sounds like fireworks."

"Technically they're more like—ba-choo, ba-choo, ba-choo," Pidge stated making a tiny finger-gun.

"Enough with the bad sound effects," Shiro said. "Besides it's more like—blam, blam, blam!"

"I'm the only one here who's actually worked with laser guns, Shiro's right," Jaz said. "Though it's closer to—bang, bang, bang!"

"What?"

"You're crazy."

"They don't sound like that."

"No way."

"Wrong."

_"__Are we the only sane people here?"_

Keith rubbed his forehead, they were supposed to be planning for a big mission and here they were acting like idiots. "We're doomed," he muttered under his breath.

"Paladins, please focus," Allura scolded.

"Besides, we can't just shoot at the Galra; the Balmera, it's alive," Hunk continued, "and from what we've seen it doesn't look good."

Keith looked up at the thermal scan of the animal and bit back a grimace. The Balmera in his home system never looked anything like that, it was always teeming with life and covered in brilliantly covered crystals that could be used for different reasons, and if there was even a hint of it being sick all harvest was immediately cut off and healing cerimonies were performed constantly till it returned to normal. Did the Galra not understand that overharvesting could kill these things? Especially without energy trades? His father showed him as soon as he could manifest light on how to properly perform an energy trade for a crystal because it was such an important thing to know.

_"__By the Traveler…"_

"Yes, it's an atrocity what the Galra have been doing to this grand beast," Coran said. "Stealing its crystals, its very life force without performing the energy rejuvenation ceremony to heal it."

"After seeing Shay's people enslaved, it made me realize how bad Zarkon really is," Hunk stated, "and we're the only ones who can stop him."

"Ok," Shiro breathed, "so, we can't go into the tunnels guns blazing. Plan B: We figure out how to draw the Galra to the surface and battle them there."

"I know!" Hunk said raising his hand. "If we attack all the big mining stuff on the surface, the Galra troops will have to come out to defend it. then we beat them up, head down to the tunnels, Voltron saves that day."

"But how will we know how many are left in the tunnels?" Keith asked. "They won't pool all their resources into fighting against us, they'll be working on a back-up plan."

"We can track the Galra and the Balmerans using Biothermal Life indicator Point Technology," Allura replied.

"Oh, BLIP Tech," Katie said looking closer at the hologram of the device, glacing away when she realized Allura was looking at her strangely. "It's an acronym."

"One of you will need to fly around the Balmera and drop these sensors into the shafts on each side. then we'll be able to see where the Galra and Balmerans are. There are already sensors built into your suits."

"I can do it," Pidge volunteered, "I just modified the Green Lion with the invisible maze's cloaking ability. I should be able to fly around unnoticed."

"Guys, I've located the main power generator," Coran stated zooming in on a part of the planet. "If you take that down, their defenses will be severely weakened."

"We'll stay in cloud cover and give tactical support," Allura said, pulling up a hologram of the Castle, "with the Castle's defenses weakened from Sendak's crystal, we won't be of much help."

"And my powers will probably cause more harm than good down there," Jaz winced, "I can at least bring down some ships if they head our way."

Shiro nodded. "Alright, I'll take down the power generator. Keith, Lance, Hunk, you three handle the big mining rigs around the area. Pidge, you go and drop the BLIPs."

"YEAH! LET'S DO THIS! LET'S GO KICK SOME ALIEN BUTT!"

"Hunk, there are three aliens on board with you," Jaz stated.

"Oh…sorry."

-.-

/You think the Balmerans will throw a parade for us once we've freed everyone?/ Lance asked.

"It's not about the glory Lance, its about freeing prisoners from Zarkon," Keith stated.

/No, I know, but still—/ he was cut off as they were shot out of the Castle.

Diving down below the clouds, they weaved between the incoming Galra fire. /This is it, get your heads in the game/ Shiro ordered, /Remember, the Balmera's a living creature. Make sure you pinpoint the Galra installations and not the surface/

/Initiating cloak/ Pidge said and the Green Lion disappeared from sight.

Keith pulled Red back as two fighters flew their way, diving behind, he let Shiro, Hunk, and Lance handle the instillation as he handled their new friends. Setting the target systems he fired, taking the two ships down before letting Red freefall for a split second to avoid the incoming cannon shots.

"Not cool," he grumbled sterring Red under the cannon's firing line and glanced at the levers as he saw two buttons flashing. "Alright girl, let's see what you got." Pressing the buttons, Red's jaws opened and a column of fire shot out, melting through the cannon. "Awesome! Did you guys see that?! I got fire power!"

/Hey I want that!/ Lance whined.

There was a loud crash, and Keith paled as he saw the massive construct begin to collapse. "Oh no."

_"__KEITH!"_

/We can't let this thing hurt the Balmera/ Hunk said as Yellow flew under, holding the falling cannon up.

/I think Blue knows what to do!/ Lance said as they shot forwards. Like Red, Blue's jaws opened and shot a pillar of blue light at the falling object, which upon impact, ice rapidly spread out, ensuing it and keeping it from crashing to the ground.

/Aw snap! These rays are super cool, just like me!/ Lance bragged.

_"__If you mean utterly horrible, then yes," _Yorak grumbled. _"I hate the cold."_

"You and me both," Keith replied, making sure to turn off his comms so Lance didn't think he was complimenting them both at the same time and end up starting another pointless fight.

/Great job team!/

Landing on the ice tower, Keith looked outside before scanning the monitors. "Where are all the troops?" he muttered swinging his hand and letting Yorak materialize.

"They aren't coming to the surface," Yorak replied looking at the BLIP scanners.

/Keith? You ok?/ Pidge asked.

/Yeah, man, your voice sounded weird/

"Must just be a glitch, no big deal," he lied glaring at the seemingly bashful Yorak beside him.

/I remember seeing a lot of Galra guys down in the mines/ Hunk added.

/Paladins, we've located a hangar full of fighters below the surface/ Allura called. /Some has to take those out before they can launch/

/They're luring us down, we don't have a choice/ Shiro growled. /Keith, Lance, you two handle the hangar. Hunk, head to the prison to rescue Shay and the other Balmerans; Pidge and I will track down the Galra soldiers/

"Yes sir."

/Ten-four/

/On it!/

/Let's do this!/

-.-

Keith shot out of Red on his speeder before switching it over to the Quick-Death sparrow, it was faster and stealthier than the speeders and would waste less time. Unfortunately, it didn't help that Keith could psyically feel the darkness crushing this giant creature. The Balamera back at his home always felt light and safe, but right now, he felt like his insides were slowly being twisted and crushed. Stopping for a moment, he gave himself some time to try and calm his breathing down, he couldn't get sick, no way he could do this mission if he got sick. Last time he felt something remotely similar to this was when he did his very first patrol on Terra's moon Dinok with his father and stumbled into the Hellmouth itself, his body couldn't handle the sudden feeling of pure darkness and his dad had to carry him out.

To his relief, the bile in his throat disappeared, and breathing became less difficult as his body began to acclimate to the environment. It really shouldn't surprise him, it had been a while since he'd encountered Darkness, Keith probably should've prepared himself.

Following the map in his helmet, Keith slammed a foot to the ground making a sharp turn, before speeding down the hall, seeing an opened up ahead he slowed to a stop and got off. Peering around the corner, he saw the room full of ships, seems Allura's map was right after all.

_"__Incoming,"_ Yorak warned switching the sparrow for Red's speeder as the glow of the Blue Paladin's speeder appeared down the hall.

"Geez you got here fast," Lance commented as he got off and crouched next to him. "So what've you seen so far?"

"Entire hangar's guarded only by a few sentries," Keith replied pulling out his sword. "We can take 'em out quickly, let's go!"

"Whoa!" Lance protested grabbing his collar and yanking Keith back. "Cool your jets man! Don't you remember all that stuff about the Balmera thing being a sensitive animal?"

"Oh, right," he winced, normally he didn't have to worry about that, because he'd be on a healthy Balmera, the small crystals covering it acted as a sort of armor that protected it from even Guardian attacks, and even then healing ceremonies were performed every time a crystal, no matter how big, was removed. This Balmera didn't have the same luxuries, so he couldn't attack by his normal patterns.

"So we can't just blow things up like a psycho."

_"__Killjoy,"_ Yorak muttered.

"You got a better plan?" Keith retorted.

"Yep, we sneak into the control room to shut down the bay doors. That'll trap the ships in."

"That's…actually a good plan," Keith said. "Who are you and what have you done to Lance?"

"Hey! I can have plenty of good ideas!" he protested as Keith crept passed him.

_"__I have a much larger list of all your bad plans."_

Creeping across the platform, they crouched down low to not be seen by the sentries on the other side of the room, just in case they decided to look up for some reason.

_"__Just on your left you should see a small opening go through it,"_ Yorak informed as they reached the other side.

Following his directions, Keith crouched down and knelt beside a panel, using his knife, he tapped it between the seam, carefully prying the panel off, revealing a ventilation shaft. "Fin sille [What next]?" he whispered as Lance watched their backs.

_"__Go inside, you're going to take a left."_

"Lance," Keith whispered crawling inside and motioning for him to follow.

Nodding, the Blue Paladin got on his knees and crawled in, replacing the panel once he was inside before they began crawling down the vents.

_"__In about three meters, you'll take a right."_

"Right up ahead," Keith whispered.

"You sure you know where you're going?" Lance asked following his rival around the turn.

"My navigation hasn't been wrong yet," he replied.

_"__Go up, once you reach the top go down the path behind you."_

"This'll be fun," he muttered, standing up and turning around, placing his arms and legs on the walls to his side, Keith began to spider crawl up the shaft, getting to the top. Stabbing his knife into the metal, he pulled himself over the edge, before looking down to see if Lance was coming up.

"Don't worry about me," Lance huffed, "doing fine here."

"Good, because I don't have rope."

After several painful minutes of listening to Lance whine and Yorak's unending sarcastic comments, the Blue Paladin made it up and they crawled down the tunnel.

_"__Stop. The control area's right under you. If you go through right here, you'll crush the sentry on duty."_

"Here," Keith said pulling out his sword, making Lance yelp.

"Move it back a bit, we don't want to land on the console."

"I know what I'm doing," he replied stabbing through and easily carving the circle with his blade. Pulling it out, Lance hopped on it and fell through as Keith hopped down.

"Keep an eye out for those guards, I'll see if I can find a way to shut the hangar doors," Lance ordered as he scanned over the console.

Nodding, Keith crouched and darted over to the window, watching the sentries down below, they didn't seem to be moving, but those were just the ones in his field of vision. "Dobav'te skanery v etot shlem i sosredotoch'te ikh na zalakh pozadi nas [Add scanners to this helmet, and focus them on the halls behind us]," Keith ordered.

_"__Got it,"_ Yorak said and Keith saw the circular scanner that was in his normal helmets appear, the red dots of the sentries in the hangar appearing in front of him, a blue icon indicating Lance behind him, and everything else was clear for now.

"I don't know what I'm doing here," Lance sighed, looking frustrated, "it's all Galra gibberish."

"Let me see," Keith whispered going back over and kneeling beside him. Looking over the controls, he furrowed his eyebrows, so far the set up seemed normal, meaning the controls to the doors had to be near the center…but which would qualify as the main control, the handprint maybe?

Setting his hand on it, Keith heard a rumble and watched as the hangar doors began to close. "That works."

"How'd you do that?"

Keith shrugged, "I just put my hand on the handprint."

"Oh…duh."

/Yo, fools, ya there?/ Jaz's bored voice rang out over the comms /Anyways, the Galra are moving down further into the tunnels, towards the planet's core, center, whatever it is/

/That must be where they're holding Shay!/ Hunk exclaimed.

/They're drawing us into an ambush/ Shiro stated grimly, /but if we want to save Shay we don't have a choice. We have to follow. Lance, Keith, head towards the core immediately, I think we'll need to get everyone together to win this firefight/

"Copy that, on our way," Lance said running towards the doors.

Standing straight up, Keith slashed his sword through the console, ensuring that it couldn't be used anymore to open up the hangar. Racing out after Lance, Keith smirked as he saw the Blue Paladin follow his lead and shoot the door panel, permanently locking it as he got out of the room.

"Should we head towards our speeders?" Lance asked as he caught up with Keith.

"Probably not, we'd have to double back and find a route, and even then there might be a path too narrow," he replied as they raced down the tunnels.

/Team, be careful, the Balmera is really unstable/ Pidge warned as they came to a junction and stopped as they spotted five Galra soldiers blocking their path.

Diving to either side as they opened fired, Keith grimaced as he heard the Balmera's pained cry and felt another dark wave slam into him like a Knight's fist. Shaking the wooziness off, he looked at Lance, "Their shooting's destroying the Balmera! We gotta do something!"

"Well, we can't shoot back, it'll make it worse," Lance replied before they both started looking around, trying to find a way to get to the sentries without having to fire any ammunition back. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Keith looked at Lance who was waving at him.

Seeing he had his attention, Lance began pointing at him, then up then towards the soldiers, then making several other motions that he didn't get. "Huh?"

Peering out from his hiding spot, Keith frowned. So, Lance pointed at him, then up, then towards the soldiers, which meant he saw a way for Keith to get over…but how? Glancing above the sentries, he saw the support beams, peering out from another path on higher ground, which so happened to lead to the ladder next to him.

He pointed to the ladder with a nod and started climbing up, getting up into a crouch, he darted forwards and knelt above the sentries, now he just needed a way to—

"You-hoo! Over here!" Lance taunted jumping out from behind his cover waving his arms, "Nana-nana boo-boo!"

The sentries began firing and Lance summed his shield, hiding behind it.

_"__That's a distraction."_

"Yep," he grinned, leaping down brandishing his blade, easily slicing through two sentries on landing. He stabbed through the third, before yanking his sword out and slicing through the fourth, before tossing it at the last sentry.

Seeing the fire was done, Lance gave a thumb's up.

"Come on!" Keith called grabbing his bayard and sprinting towards the rendezvous point entrance just ahead. The dark feeling he'd had since landing had only been growing worse the deeper they went, now Keith could practically touch the dark aura rolling through the area coming through the doorway ahead. Holding back the urge to hurl, Keith took the lead and went inside the core with Lance behind and the doors slammed shut.

"Not an ambush more like a trap," Hunk said.

"Whatever it is keep your guard up," Keith ordered activating his bayard, noticing that his hand was shaking.

"The Galra, they gathered knowledge that you would return to the Balmera," the tall, muscular, green rock-girl who had to be Shay said.

"How?"

"I know not," she answered, "but they set this trap for you. I was the bait."

_"__And we took it hook, line, and sinker."_

"Who could've possibly known we were heading here to save Shay?" Shiro questioned.

"Rolo!" Hunk growled. "Those liars must've told Zarkon!"

"We have to figure out how to get out of here."

"Wait! We have a giant Castle-ship hovering in the sky," Lance voiced. "Allura, can you come get us?"

"How do you expect her to do that?"

"Maybe they got teleporters or something, like 'Beam me up Scotty'."

-.-

"We're quite occupied up here at the moment!" Allura growled "We're completely surrounded by Galra ships and taking heavy fire!"

"Princess! The particle barrier won't last much longer!" Coran exclaimed as the alarms began going off.

"I'll do what I cam to slow them down," Jaz growled making an X with her arms; a larger X began to appear in front of the Castle's barrier, acting as a second shield, the arms moving as her arms did. "I don't know how long I can hold this!"

"Paladins! You need to get out of there as soon as you can!"

-.-

"This is it! We're going to die down here! I can say bye-bye to that parade," Lance whined.

"Get it together guys," Shiro commanded. "Allura, we'll get there as soon as we can."

"Perhaps my people can help us get out," Shay spoke up, walking over to the core and placing her hand on it. "This is how we communicate. The Balmera senses our vibrations and sends a message to those in the tunnels."

Keith raised an eyebrow, that wasn't how the Balmerans on the Krien Balmera communicated over long distance. "Are you sure someone will be able to hear your…hand for all the way down here?"

"The Balamera will deliver the message," she stated firmly before closing her eyes and her hand began glowing with a light that somewhat eased the oppressive fog of death that seemed to silently drift ever closer to the core.

"Keith, you ok?" Shiro asked, looking over his little brother with worry. Keith had looked perfectly healthy at the start of the mission, but now he looked pale, and his breathing appeared to be labored despite the fact it looked like he was trying to hide it.

"Fine," he grunted watching Shay. "I'm going to see if I can slice through one of the doors."

Turning on his heel, Keith stalked towards the door he and Lance came in, activating his bayard, he drove the sword between the two sides of the door and began trying to force it open with all his strength. He could see it slightly moving apart as he turned the sword, now he'd just have to—the blade jerked and Keith yanked his hand back as the doors slammed, his bayard now completely sideways slicing through part of the door.

"Well…it was worth a shot," Shiro said over his shoulder.

"Help me pull it out, maybe then we can start pulling."

-.-

"The fighters are heading down into the tunnels!" Coran gasped as a squadron of fighters broke off from the rest. "They're going to steal the lions!"

"Paladins, the lions are in danger, you must get back to them immediately!" Allura ordered.

"Princess, something's locked onto us," Coran called as a Galra warship jumped out of hyperspace.

Gritting her teeth and panting as sweat ran down her face, Jaz moved her shield up, localizing it from an X to a circle to help defend against the potential attack.

-.-

/Paladins, a Galra battle crusier has locked onto us. If it fires with its ion cannon I don't know if we'll survive/ Allura informed, /even with Jaz's shield/

"We working on it Allura," Lance answered watching Keith and Shiro attempting to pry the door open using the handholds made by Keith's sword, "Shay's pressing her hand against the wall, which apparently sends vibrations to the other rock people who vibrate back or something? Hand talking? And Shiro and Keith are trying to pry a door open. So I guess the answer is 'Yes, we copy'?"

"Shay are you sure the Balmera's sending the message?" Shiro asked gritting his teeth, watching as the door slowly gained another painful inch as he and Keith pulled. Hearing a rumbling, the two looked at each other before falling back as the walls around the door crushed it, before pulling back, revealing the rest of Shay's family.

"We must make haste!"

"Allura, stand by. We're on out way up!" Shiro said as they got to their feet and sprinted out.

/Hurry, they're taking the lions/ Jaz grunted.

As soon as Keith split off from the others, he summoned Quick-Death, storing Red speeder away again as he shot through the halls, the throbbing in his head fading as he got further from the core.

Driving towards Red, he grit his teeth as he saw the Galra fighters by her. "Yorak, drive!" Keith ordered summoning him and his partner quickly disappeared into the sparrow as Keith pulled out his grenade launcher. "No one takes my ship!"

Firing, the fighter exploded in a blaze of glory, followed swiftly by the second. Red dropped to the ground and Keith felt the bond strengthen as Yorak remerged with him, switching his favorite sparrow out for the speeder as the cockpit opened and they got situated in Red before launching out of the hole with a roar.

/Everyone make it to their lions?/ Shiro asked.

/Who do you think you're dealing with? A bunch of amateurs?/ Lance asked before Blue collided with a Galra instillation, making Lance yelp.

/You really want me to answer that?/ Shiro teased.

/No/

/Let's go!/

Shooting off into battle, Keith began firing at the fighters surrounding the Castle, activating the torch, Keith spun Red around, her flames melting through the ships with ease as Lance did something similar.

/Hunk watch out!/ Pidge called.

/Got ya covered/ Shiro stated.

/Phew, thanks guy!/

/It's charging its ion cannon!/ Coran called.

/Divert all shields to the bow/ Allura ordered as the particale barrier dissolves around the rest of the Castle as they reinforced themselves behind Jaz's shield. The cannon fired and the ship was slowly pushed back under the intense barrage. /Paladins! We need you immediately! Thirty more ticks and we're finished!/

/Ok team! Let's form Voltron!/ Shiro ordered and they call grouped up forming the weapon.

Flying up towards the cruiser, Voltron collided with the bottom, pushing up on the ship and activating the thrusters, diverting the path of attack from the Castle.

"Now's out chance!" Coran called looking back at the two women.

"Full power to blasters!" Allura ordered.

Jaz thrust both her hands forwards and the shield dropped shooting across the sky in a beam of light towards the Galra ship.

"Locked onto target. Fire!"

The Castle's cannon shot right after Jaz's attack, the latter tearing a hole in the ship where Voltron had been a split second ago splitting the ship into two halves before the former beam him, easily firing through the weakened defenses and causing a chain reaction in the ship as it exploded, taking out the rest of the fighters surrounding it.

"Yeah!"

/Nice shot!/

/Yeah! The parade's back on!/

/LANCE!/

"Misson accomplished," Keith said as Voltron landed on the Balmera.

/And just in the nick of time too/ Allura stated as the Castle approached the ground. /The Castle's defenses are battered and will need a full recharge/

The alarms began blaring and they all started checking their scanners. /There's an unknown object incoming! It's about to crash into the Balmera!/ Coran exclaimed.

The ball of fire collided with the ground, causing a wave of dust to pass over, they saw a strange Galran object standing in the ground.

/What the heck is that?/ Lance asked.

"Trouble."


	10. Space Godzilla

Chapter 10

**A/N: remember people, I just own the story and its OCs.**

**/comm-links/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashbacks or Yorak talking privately_**

/Oh no/

/Please tell me there isn't another Galra monster in there/ Hunk pleaded, /Please tell me it's empty! Or full of space candy. One of those two, either one is fine/

/I don't think it's a piñata Hunk/ Lance grumbled.

"If it's the same type of monster that attacked us on Arus, we already know how to beat it," Keith stated grabbing his bayard and slamming it into the port, activating the sword and the shield activated on Green's side.

/Hold your ground!/ Shiro ordered.

_"Do you really think this is a good idea? We should see what we're up against first,"_ Yorak commented, _"I mean even you Guardians only get so far with the whole hit first handle problems later routine."_

"It'll be fine," Keith reassured watching as the outer shell of the container fell away, revealing…Godzilla in armor?

_"…Is that a lizard?"_

"I think so," Keith said wincing as he felt the energy coming off this thing. Whatever Godzilla here was, it was made by something that followed the Hive ways close enough to mimic their weaponry and mirror the Wizard practices, so much Keith actually felt the Wizard's darkness rolling off of it in waves, making him feel sick to his stomach. That Wizard was powerful, maybe Syphon Witch or Brood Mother class…maybe even a Deathsinger or Ritual.

The Godzilla in armor jerked upright, the head revealing two green eyes that seemed to move independently and a cavity in its chest that began glowing green. Its chest moved forwards with a jolt as an energy beam shot towards them.

Pulling up the shield, Voltron was shoved back as it hit.

/It's not candy!/ Hunk cried.

/And it's not the same monster!/ Lance pointed out.

/We need to draw its fire away from the Balmera's surface!/ Shiro ordered as Voltron spun out of the line of fire, whirled around and shot towards their enemy as it began flying as well. Pulling up the shield again, they blocked an attack before it could reach the surface, pushing back as they started to circle each other, waiting for the next shot.

Once the next shot fired, Voltron dove down and flew forwards, towards the evil robot, landing they attempted to slice through it with the sword only for it to move out of the way, turn around, and blast them with a green blast.

Quickly recovering, Voltron regained its balance and started weaving between the incoming shots before landing and blocking another attack with the shield.

/We can't hold out!/

/My lion's weakening!/ Pidge warned. /If the shield sustains structural damage we're done for!/

"Pidge is right," Keith said looking over the extra scanners Yorak added to the monitors. According to the data, Katie's shield was failing rapidly and— "Lance! Watch your footing!"

The Blue Lion slid back before impacting with a rock, causing Voltron to trip and the shield to break as they fell to the ground.

"Before that happens," Keith muttered to himself.

/Ok, Voltron disband!/ Shiro ordered and they separated. /Everyone, evasive maneuvers! It can't attack us all at once!/

Then Godzilla spread his arms like he was wanting a hug, revealing numerous cannons like the one on its chest on the extremities.

_"He just had to say something."_

"Sir iksis daor se jēda syt aōha hicirrouyt ivestragon [Now is not the time for your rebellious comments]!" Keith growled as he wove Red through the incoming fire.

/Ok, it can do that too/ Shiro said.

"Daor dohaeragon'opm [Not helping]!"

A beam of blue energy blasted through the clouds and slammed into the monster as the Castle appeared in the sky.

/Sorry we're late for the party/ Jaz smirked appearing on the comm-screens.

/You haven't missed much/ Shiro replied as the beast turned and fired at them.

/The Castle's particle barrier still isn't at full strength from the Galra's attack/ Coran warned /the barrier can't take much more of this!/

/I can try to manifest another barrier, but I can't guarantee how long it'll hold/ Jaz replied.

/You're still worn out from the last one!/ Shiro warned.

/I'll manage!/ she replied cutting off communications.

/Keith! I want you to draw its fire!/ Shiro ordered. /I'm coming to attack it from above!/

"Rodger!" Keith called turning Red around and diving towards the ground. Pulling up at the last minute, he skimmed along the Balmera's surface, before activating Red's fire, praying it would melt through the beast.

It didn't, but once Keith felt all that dark energy turn to him, he physically felt his stomach try to rebel as he pulled Red out of the line of fire. Was this how Hunk felt all the time? It sucked.

Flying past Shiro, he pulled up a monitor to watch behind him as Black divebombed towards Godzilla, so far so good. Then it all went back to hell as an eye moved to the back of the head and fired at Shiro, forcing him to abandon his attack.

"We need to find that thing's blind spot!" Keith hissed turning off the rear monitor.

/I don't think that thing has a blind spot/ Pidge replied sounding frustrated, /It has like a thousand eyes/

/Laser eyes! Laser eyes! AHH!/ Hunk screamed into the comms making everyone else lower the volume in order to avoid going deaf.

/What do we do?/ Katie asked pulling Green up with Red as they turned around and dove back towards the battle.

"I think we need to aim for those laser eyes," Keith stated, "if we take those out this thing should be defenseless."

/We'll cover you!/ Allura called as the Castle began firing at the beast.

Outside they could see Jaz' shield drop and split into several of her energy balls before they all shot forwards at once slamming the evil lizard back with an explosion.

Through the dust, numerous green beams shot out and made contact with the particle barrier and Coran's frantic voice grew louder as he panicked. /We're taking heavy fire up here! We're in trouble!/ Allura called as Jaz formed several more energy attacks.

/Princess, pull back, get out of its range now/ Shiro commanded.

/Like hell Takashi!/

/We will not abandon you/ Allura's calmer voice agreed.

/You aren't abandoning us, we're about to pull back anyways/

/We are?/

/We can't hold out. We have to. Lions into the mine shafts! It's the only place this monster can't reach!/

/Rodger that!/

/Heading into orbit!/

Reluctantly Keith pulled Red back, ignoring her growl as she voiced her extreme dislike of retreating from a battle, he felt the same way, but as much as he hated to admit it, Shiro was right; no way they could hold out against that thing without a sold plan.

_"What do you think it'll do if we leave it alone up there?"_

"I don't know, but we should be able to come up with a plan fast enough where we don't need to worry about that," he answered as Red landed.

_"Balmerans on the ground."_

"Maybe they have an idea," Keith smirked quickly getting out of his seat. Exiting Red, he joined Shiro and Hunk as they ran up to greet the natives.

"What is happening up there?"

"A monster was sent by Zarkon to destroy us," Keith stated, no point in tiptoeing around the issue.

"A monster?" Shay said sounding shocked. "Will Zarkon's savagery never abate?"

_"It rarely does with evil dictators."_

"Perhaps our people were never meant to be free," she continued looking despondent.

"Shay don't give up," Hunk reassured. "Zarkon's power grows with every planet he conquers, but he's weakened by every being that fights back."

"Fight back? Against a monster like that?!" she gaped. "How?"

"I don't know, but we can beat it," Hunk answered calmly. "Tell her Keith."

And Hunk had been doing such a good job, till that moment, because currently Keith was not sharing the same confidence. "Can we?"

"Yes we can!" Shiro said with enough resolve Keith was half-expecting him to get in Black and fly off to fight it, "This is our first mission. We're not going to fail. We can beat it, we just need some time to come up with a plan."

"See, told you we can," Hunk said. "Thanks Shiro."

_"Keith—"_

A burst of pain exploded in Keith's head, forcing him to grab the side of it as the ground below him shook violently, the Balmera's pained moan resounding around them like a haunting call as the ground cracked beneath their feet.

"You guys feeling that?" Hunk asked.

/Yep/

"Keith, you alright?" Shiro asked putting a hand on his shoulder, looking concerned. His friend had paled rapidly in the seconds before the Balmera's cry, he'd been in a similar state down at the core, was he getting sick? It'd be just like Keith to not tell anyone he was under the weather.

"Headache, but I'll manage," he answered still looking sick.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

/It's that sound again, what is that?/

"That great noise comes from the Balmera itself. Our home crumbles beneath our feet. The Balmera is dying."

"Allura, can you hear me?" Shiro asked. "The Balmera—"

/We already know/ Coran replied. /Our scanners are showing that the life energy is draining from the Balmera/

/How does that happen?/

/Removing crystals from a Balmera is like removing a vital part of the mighty beast/ Coran explained .it needs time to regenerate itself to stay healthy, but the Galra's greed may've cost this noble Balmera its life/

"So what's going to happen?" Hunk asked as they looked at the monitor.

/The core will collapse, destabilizing the entire skeletal structure. Anything or anyone remaining on the Balmera at that point will be crushed into dust/

"How long before its core collapses?" Shiro asked.

/Probably a matter of hours. The mighty organism willingly gives itself to all, but not all return its kindness/

Keith clenched his fists, his fury temporarily overcoming the sickness that had settled in his gut with the combination of the beast and the growing darkness in the Balmera. It made him sick that people could do this to a Balmera of all creatures, they were vital towards space travel, in his system they were so coveted Balmeras were a designated neutral zone between the Guardians and their allies, the Fallen, and even the Cabal, each having guards on duty with some heavy-duty war fleets to protect them from Hive or Vex attacks.

/Then our time is short, we must evacuate the planet/ Allura said yanking Keith from his thoughts. /We need to get all the Balmerans to the Castle of Lions before the planet implodes/

"That sounds like a good plan, but how on Earth do you plan on landing the Castle with that thing on the surface?" Hunk pointed out.

/You'll need a distraction/

"We'll engage the beasts in our lions," Shiro stated. "With it distracted the Castle can land and evacuate the Balmera's population."

/Or we could transport the Balmerans in our lions a few at a time!/ Lance suggested. /This way we don't need to engage ferocious laser-eye dude! How long would that take?/

/Too long/ Jaz replied, /We only have hours to accomplish this/

"Look, we don't need to beat this thing. We just need to bait it away from the ship, provoke and evade," Shiro stated.

"Here's the thing, I'm worried that we're gonna do really, really good at the provoking part, but really bad at the whole evading thing," Hunk voiced. "But, if this is what it takes to save Shay and everyone on the planet, then I'm in."

He didn't like the idea of leaving the Balmera to die, but Keith had to agree, they couldn't leave its people to perish if they should fail. "Can you contact the other Balmerans?"

"I can, but I know not what they'll say. Leave the planet? Our home?"

/It's the only option/ Allura replied. /I'm coming down/

/Me too!/ Jaz said ignoring Coran's protests.

/It's too dangerous!/

/Someone has to be there to lead these people out/

/And I can guard her/

/You're coming down? That thing will blow your pod to pieces if it spots you/ Pidge warned.

/Let us worry about that, you focus on keeping that creature distracted/

Going to their lions, they flew out and shot passed the beast, giving it a target to chase as they wove through the rocky spires that Keith figured were probably either spines or really big hairs growing from the Balmera.

/Ok, we've provoked it! Time to evade!/ Hunk exclaimed as he barely pulled out of the way of some of the incoming lasers.

/Princess, Jaz, we've lured the monster away/ Shiro stated.

/We'll contact you when we've reached the ground/ Allura stated.

_"Uh…how exactly are they going to reach the ground?" _Yorak asked.

"I dunno…jump?" Keith shrugged.

/Is that them?!/ Lance exclaimed and Keith moved Red to face…the two people falling from the sky holding onto small transports.

/…Why am I not surprised?/ Shiro muttered, probably not realizing his comms were still on.

/We've gotta protect them!/ Hunk exclaimed diving down towards the lizard.

Spotting the Yellow Lion heading for it, both of its eyes focused on him and shot the Yellow Paladin back giving Shiro a chance to jump on its back as it tried to aim again. The monster looked up, charing its lasers only for Blue to shoot ice in its face.

Breaking out, it started chasing after the Paladins again as they continued to distract it.

-.-

"We landed," Jaz stated as she and Allura got to their feet.

/Hurry! I don't know how long we can hold this thing off!/ Shiro called.

"Shay, I'm going to need your help," Allura said jogging over to the Balmeran family.

"Princess?" Shay asked looking at her as Jaz caught up.

"Have you contacted the other Balmerans?" Allura pressed.

At the question, the family looked between themselves causing both women to glance at each other; that wasn't good.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"All Balmerans give thanks for the kindness you and the Paladins have bestowed upon us, but, alas, we cannot take leave of our home," Shay said.

"What?" Allura gasped.

"If our great Balmera's life-cycle is over because of us, then our desire is to stay with it until the end."

"But you'll never survive!" Allura protested.

"We've contacted the others, and all agree," the male, Rax, stated. "It's not right that you risk our lives for us. Please away. We ask for no more guilt and shame upon us."

"Look, I understand where you're coming from I do," Jaz said stepping forwards, "but believe me when I say this is not the way. Your Balmera would not want you to die with it!"

"It is our wish. The wish of all Balmerans."

Jaz threw her arms up in the air in exasperation, "What of the wish of the Balmera? Do you think it wishes for you to die with it?!"

"But we do not ask this of you, please," Shay pleaded.

"We have heard your words," Allura stated calmly, "now let us speak ours. We want to talk to the Balmerans. Can you relay a message to them from us?"

"There is no need to speak for you," the old grandmother said walking forwards, "You have a unique power within. The Balamera will carry your words."

She pointed to where Allura was resting her hand on the tunnel's walls and the two women stepped back as they saw the glowing handprint.

"Whoa," Jaz breathed.

"Speak your heart child," the old Balmeran said taking Allura's hand and resting it on the wall again, "All can hear you."

Allura nodded and closed her eyes as they watched. "Balmerans, this is Princess Allura, you don't know me, but I am here to help. I know what it's like to watch your home planet die. For I come from Planet Altea, a planet that has long been destroyed by the Galra, but I refuse to give up. and now, you all have the same choice, you can decide now to devote your lives to making sure that this never happens to another world. I am eternally sorry for what has happened to the Balmera, but I beg you, do not let it die in vain. Honor the Balamera's bravery by continuing to live on and refusing to give up. join me in my fight against the Galra."

The old woman reached her hand up to the wall and was silent for a moment before she smiled. "Your words have touched our hearts."

"Thank you," Allura breathed, relieved that perhaps now they could get the Balmerans to safety.

"No, thank you, you've given us reason to hope again."

"Everyone, head to the caves just under the surface," Allura said hoping that the Balmerans would come.

/Princess, your speech must've worked/ Coran called /The Balmerans are moving towards the surface/

"Let's move!" Jaz ordered and they began racing up the tunnels coming out on the highest level. "Coran, we're just beneath the surface, get our position and get your butt down here so we can start the evac!"

/Understood! Castle of Lions coming in! Paladins? How are you holding up?/

/We've got it pretty distracted. Are the Balmerans in position?/

"On their way now."

"Make sure you guys keep us covered," Jaz said as the Castle landed on the surface.

"BRING THEM OUT! HURRY NOW!" Coran called as he opened the door to the loading pod.

"WE'RE WORKING ON IT!" Jaz snapped pulling more people up.

The ground shook under them as the dying Balmera cried out again, some of the surface giving way, destroying some of the paths the Balmerans were using to reach the surface.

"Draaf!"

"NO!"

"IT'S ON THE VERGE OF COLLASPING! WE HAVE TO GO!" Coran called sprinting over.

"But the Balmerans—!"

"We can't just leave them!" Jaz protested.

"They're trapped! What can be done? Time is short?"

-.-

Keith grit his teeth as the pain from the dying Balmera grew, at this rate it was going to collapse in a matter of minutes, at least.

_"You've got lasers incoming!"_ Yorak warned and Keith grunted in reply, veering Red out of the path as the others did the same.

/Every hit weakens the Balmera. Have you evacuated yet? What's happening?/ Hunk demanded.

/The Balamerans are trapped! Just keep distracting that beast!/ Coran ordered.

/Uh…do you want us to distract it by dying? Because that's what's gonna happen!/

"Either we distract it or the Balmerans die, take your pick," Keith stated.

/Guys remember when I said we don't have to beat it?/ Shiro asked.

/Yes/

/Well we might have to beat it/

"This'll be fun."

-.-

"We're lost! All are trapped with no chance of escape!" Shay cried falling to her knees.

"We can't give up," Allura reassured, kneeling next to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But what can be done?"

Jaz began pacing as she tried to think, "Maybe we could have them travel to some of the other surface tunnels, see how those are, maybe that Galra hangar could work, or…" she trialed off looking at the glowing blue ground underneath the Castle, "…What's happening?"

"The Balmera. The ground beneath your mighty ship appears healed!" Shay gasped. "Its essence thrives…but how?"

"The Castle," Allura said.

"Not just the Castle, but you as well," the old woman said stepping forwards once again.

"It's true, your Altean energy, combined with the Ship's crystal has revitalized part of the Balmera."

"That's it!" Allura realized, shooting to her feet. "I can perform the ceremony you spoke about! We can save the Balmera."

"What ceremony?" Rax asked.

"In the days of old, when Alteans were given the gift of Crystals from the Balmera, we'd repay its sacrifice by performing a ceremony. A sacred Altean would reinfuse the Balmera with quintessence. in this way we had a symbiotic relationship," Coran explained.

Allura nodded in assent. "The Galra have only been taking, it's time we give back," she stated as she walked forwards under the Castle. "I can connect with the crystal on the bridge and use the Caslte as an amplifier."

"When your father performed the ceremony it was on a much smaller scale," Coran stated, "I beg you Princess, to heal an entire planet could take more energy than you possess you may not…live through it."

"My people do something similar among the Techeun, I could help," Jaz offered, "take away some of the strain."

"Thank you, Jaz," Allura nodded in assent before turning back to her advisor. "Coran, I know you're scared for us, but we must try."

"Alright, Coran stand back," Jaz ordered. "Allura, stand across from me at arm's length. You five, circle around us evenly spaced!" The Balmerans gathered around waiting for the next set of instructions. "Now, you need to kneel on the ground, Allura, you and I will have to be back-to-back now."

"Got it."

Standing back-to-back, Jaz and Allura took a slow breath as the ground around them began to glow and a beam of light came down from the Castle.

-.-

Keith grunted as Red took another hit from the growingly infuriating lasers. "Guys! This isn't working!" he called. "We're never take this beast down in our lions!"

/Well forming Voltron didn't work either/ Katie pointed out.

/Not without some way to shoot all those laser eyes at once/ Lance remarked.

/Guys! I think something's happening here!/ Hunk called sounding concerned.

"What?!"

/I think my lion's telling me there's a way to take down all those eyes at once!/

/Well what is it?!/

/Do you remember how Voltron formed that sword with Keith's bayard? I think Yellow's telling me I can do the same thing with my Bayard/

Keith furrowed his brows, it made sense. "Are you sure?"

/Let's find out! FORM THINGY! It didn't work!/

/Because we didn't form Voltron yet!/ Shiro reminded.

/Oh, right…I knew that!/

_"We're gonna die surrounded by the biggest idiots in the universe,"_ Yorak grumbled.

"We're fine," Keith hissed at him.

_"It's turning away from us."_

Shiro's voice rang out over the comms, /We have to defend the Castle! Everyone! Follow me, form Voltron!/

Driving Red towards the others, Keith closed his eyes as he felt the lions merge to form the weapon. And just in the nick of time; looking down they could see the beast preparing to launch a massive attack against the comrades on the ground below.

Moving Red forwards, Keith shot a blast at the evil lizard, knocking it off balance and making it turn its attention to them as they landed. A jolt ran through Red, and Keith could only stare as a massive cannon materialized above him, Hunk must've put his bayard into the lock.

The cannon chared as the lizard did, and they fired at the same time, the blasts colliding and pushing against each other, trying to win out.

/It's not enough!/ Shiro grunted as the light slowly got brighter.

/We have to try something else!/ Hunk voiced and Voltron shirted, directing the opposing blast passed the Caslte and allowing them to move out of the way of the next attack.

_"There has to be a way to get a lock on multiple targets, like the missile systems. Surely Voltron had to be equipped with something like that?"_

As if in response, Keith's monitor blinked and he saw the target system pinpointing all the arm cannons. "Are you psychic?"

_"I don't think so."_

/Is everyone seeing this?!/

"Roger that," Keith affirmed, glad it wasn't just him seeing this.

/Let's see what this can do/ Shiro said as the cannon materialized again, Keith could practically see the smirk on his face, /Engage!/

They fired, and instead of it being one solid beam as it had been before, numerous lasers fired out, moving in random directions before they all hit their target, sending Godzilla stumbling back.

/Guys, look/ Shiro said and they all turned to see a wave of blue light spread over the Balmera's surface.

"A healing ceremony," Yorak whispered materializing beside Keith's head. "I've never seen one this big before."

"Probably because our Balmera never needed it," Keith quietly replied watching the blue light fade away, and with it the heaviness he felt in his chest vanished. The Balmera would live, he was sure of it.

"LOOK OUT!" Yorak shrieked loud enough where Keith knew he was going to have to use the excuse of a glitch in his comms.

Seeing what he was warning them about, Voltron quickly flew out of the way of the incoming blast of the cannon in the monster's chest. Enough was enough, they had to take this thing down, now.

Keith watched as the blast ended, basing on the previous shots, they had a minute to attack before the next blast would be ready. Voltron shot forwards and Keith shoved Red forwards, gladly letting the right hand of Voltron punch this pain in the reym to the next dimension.

"Ok, it has to be down now," Keith growled as they separated and landed.

Hurring out of their lions, they saw Jaz and Allura resting in the arms of Shay and her mother.

"Did it work?" Allura asked weakly.

Rax placed his hand on the ground and nodded. "The Balmera lives. It thanks you for your help."

A rumble shook through the ground, and they could all only stare as the beast started getting up again.

"No," Allura breathed.

"Ae'rfef yrohsus fhsusc'hhk'hgygnhgh k'hgygd'hd'hgygnhgh mhfef?!" Jaz cursed trying to sit up as Shiro tried to keep her down.

Gritting his teeth, Keith started to channel his light into his hand to form a grenade, this thing had to die if they were going to live, even if he had to blow his cover.

Under them, the Balmera released a roar that sounded more hostile than anything he'd ever heard from the gentle giants, blue crystals began to emerge from the ground, climbing up the beast and sprouting from its chest as it tried to escape before its final roar was snuffed out.

"No way," Hunk breathed.

"The Balmera just saved us," Coran smiled.

"The Balmera just ate it," Jaz deadpanned.

"I'd be hungry too after all that," Keith quipped back getting a few surprised looks from the others.

"Look at the crystals," Allura gasped and they all looked down, watching as hundreds of brightly colored crystals emerged from the ground, soon enough the surface would be covered with them, and the Balmera would be just as healthy as the one back in the Krein System.

"Oh, who's a good Balmera? You are. Who ate the big monster? You did, yes you did," Hunk praised, petting it like one would a pet.

"Dude. What are you doing? It's not a wolf."

"You mean dog," Shiro corrected.

"Maybe where you're from."

"I always figured you were raised by wolves," Lance said smugly as Keith scowled.

Hunk meanwhile continued to coo at the Balmera, "What? it's alive, and it wuvs my scwatches!"

"Hunk, please stop," Jaz said.

"You're such a good Balmera! Yes, you are."

Keith put his hand on the bridge of his nose, this was the greatest hope for the universe? He sighed tiredly, "Iksi vējes'an [We're doomed]."


	11. Past Ghosts

Chapter 11

**A/N: alright, once again, just own story & OCs, nothing else is mine. 'Kay? 'Kay.**

**/comms/**

**Bold is ship intercom**

**_Magical telepathy scrap/flashbacks_**

Jaz sat upside-down on the couch, practicing levitation magic with the old energy-ball toy Keith had kept in his ghost's storage. It was nice to be practicing with something that was designed to channel quintessence, it was a lot more durable than the usual items she practiced with.

Let's just say Lance was still looking for the tube of moisturizer she chose to use for practice that ended up exploding and Coran was missing five cups and a plate from the kitchen.

"Jaz? What are you doing up?" Shiro said walking in startling her off the couch.

Quickly untangling herself from the crumpled heap she had made of herself when she had fallen to the floor, Jaz sat up holding the ball in hand. "I almost had it this time Takashi," she whined.

"You shouldn't be practicing magic right now, you're still pretty weak from healing the Balmera," he said coming down and helping her up.

"I made it here didn't I?" she said standing straight.

Shiro raised an eyebrow, "And how much of that trip did you spend leaning against the wall?"

"Uh…"

"Thought so," he said taking her arm and putting it over his shoulders to support her as he escorted her back to her room. "You really should give yourself time to recover, you could hurt yourself over-training like that."

Jaz snorted, "You're one to talk. Didn't I have to drag you away from the simulators a few times before the mission?"

"It takes one to know one," he replied with a wry smile as they got to her room. "Think you can make it from here, or do you want help?"

"It's just a few feet, if I fall I can drag myself into bed, or I'll sleep on the floor. Depends on which is more comfortable."

Shiro furrowed his eyebrows at her statement. "The floor can't be that comfortable."

"It all depends on the floor, I've been on some very comfy floors before," she stated pushing off her friend onto her own two feet.

"Get some rest, no magic."

"Ugh, fine," she waved closing the door.

-.-

Keith leaned against an empty stasis pod watching Sendak warily as Coran set up the memory extraction thing. It had been a pain to drag Sendak all the way down before shoving him into the pod. At least the Galra had enough sense to know he was beaten after Keith had simply tossed him down the hall when he tried making a break for it.

He hadn't been bothering to restrain his strength at the time, so no doubt it had been unnerving to be hurled down to the other end of the hall by something his size. That was probably the only reason Sendak didn't try to run off again.

In all honsesty, Keith wished he had something to focus on due to the foreboding feeling churning in his gut. The scavangers and the Balmera had distracted him, but now that those problems were resolved, it was back, and almost certainly had something to do with the prisoner.

"Ok guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up," Coran said activating the holoscreen, "but, look, I have to warn you, this technology was used to keep Altean memories alive, not to perform interrogations."

"Coran, we understand this isn't what the technology was meant for," Shiro stated, "but if we can extract Sendak's memories, we could gain valuable intelligence on Zarkon's troop locations."

"Yeah, and the when can just go 'Knock-knock. Who's there? The avenging fury of Voltron, son!'" Lance said tapping on Hunk's head and then trying to move his arms like he was a gangster, though in Keith's own opinion he was probably the least terrifying gangster he'd ever seen.

"Fascinating," Katie said pressing her face up against the glass of the device in curiosity, "So how exactly does this thing work?"

"As the memories are exracted, they're written bit by bit on individual molecules of the micro storage strands."

_"That sounds way too complicated,"_ Yorak commented and Keith agreed. He'd take the magic of the Warlocks any day over that. At least then he could walk through the past again as it had been and could check everything as if he were there. If the magic was done right, he could even see memories that weren't his, it was how his father had shown him the final battle with Crota.

"When I go, I want my brain stored in a giant ship," Lance mused.

"The amount of information in your brain could fit on a paper airplane," Keith quipped absentmindedly.

"Oh yeah! Well, the amount of information you have Keith could be…" Lance trailed off trying to think of a good comeback.

"Yeah?" Keith bit back a smirk as he raised an eyebrow.

"Uh…it's less than what I have!"

"Good one Lance," Hunk cheered.

Yorak sighed, _"He's not even good for a good roasting competition, seriously, why are we keeping him?"_

"Kesrio syt īlon jorrāelagon zirȳla naejot sōvegon se Kasta Kēlio [Because we need him to fly the Blue Lion]," Keith answered quietly.

_"Do we? Do we really?"_

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"Knock it off," Shiro scolded and they both backed down.

"So this is how you incorporating King Alfor's memories into the Castle?" Pidge asked.

"Precisely," Coran confirmed, "but it's never been used before on an unwilling participant." Stepping back, the deviced opened and…nothing happened.

"Uh…is this how it's supposed to work?" Hunk inquired as Coran scratched his head.

"Let's give it some time," Shiro suggested and Keith got comfortable in his spot, he'd probably be here for a while.

-.-

After several hours Keith stood up straight and arched his back till he heard a few distinct pops, before sighing in relief as the crick in his spine left. Looking at the others he saw Coran watching the device with Pidge, Hunk was sleeping on the floor and Lance was currently poking Shiro's boot as the man remained firmly placed in his spot in front of their prisoner.

"Well, I'm done waiting around," he said stretching his arms and breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over them, "I'm gonna hit the training deck."

Walking away he walked to his room and took his jacket off, setting it on the hook he got out of the rest of his clothes and exchanged them for the black underarmor that went with his Guardian uniform, before putting on the boots and guantlets. He could just lie and say it was some training gear he stumbled across when exploring the Castle if anyone asked, besides, it would be good if her trained with armor heavier than the Paladin stuff, it'd help improve his reflexes and speed.

Putting his knife holster back on he grabbed his bayard and hung it on a spare latch on the belt before heading to the training deck.

"What do you want to practice first?" Yorak asked materializing beside him.

"Probably should practice with my guns, don't want to get rusty," he smiled letting his auto-rifle fall into his arms. "You should hide, I don't want to accidently shoot ya."

"Good idea, try level 7 first," Yorak said vanishing again.

"Computer, start target practice, level 7."

-.-

"Hey Katie," Jaz smiled as she spotted the small girl walking towards her.

"Hey Jaz, aren't you supposed to be resting?"

The Awoken woman shrugged, "I got hungry, what about you? It's been a rough few days."

"I want to examine Sendak's crystal more," Pidge said walking slower to accommodate for the exhausted woman.

"Seems like a solid plan to me, better to know what exactly that thing did than wait for the system errors, let me know if you need help with any magic elements."

"Thanks," Pidge smiled before they both jumped back as a shot of green goo splattered on the wall in front of them.

Looking at each other, both girls peered into the kitchen where they saw a tube of goo firing wildly like a firehose with too much pressure and no one holding onto it. They glanced at each other to confirm that they were both seeing this before spotting a mess of dark hair and an orange bandana peeking over the counter of the kitchen island.

"What's going on?"

Hunk popped up with tears in his eyes, "The goo has me pinned down!" he whined before yelping as a blob of the food source slammed into his head, making him duck for cover again.

Nodding to each other, they darted across the room, crouching besides Hunk. Pidge pressed a button and opened the dishwasher, handing each of them a plate, "We're gonna have to flank the goo to shut it down."

"Pidge you go right, Hunk left, I'll go over the counter," Jaz stated and the two kids nodded.

"Wait, wait," Hunk said grabbing their shoulders before picking up his plate and saluting, "It's been a pleasure cooking with you."

"Go!" Jaz ordered as she jumped up onto the counter, holding the plate like a shield as her teammates flanked it from the sides. Hitting the tube to the ground with her plate, Pidge jumped on it and Hunk tied it up before they all started backing away as the tube swelled and the walls began to bleed the green substance like a bad horror movie.

"Probably a malfunction?" Katie suggested.

"I'll say."

"Guess the kitched system needs to be rebooted too," Hunk winced.

"Leave it for Coran?" Pidge asked and the other two nodded and they quickly departed the scene of the crime.

-.-

"Whew, not bad," Keith breathed letting his gun dissolve back into the pocket-dimension storage space. The last few levels he did were closer to what he was used to after he blazed throught he first levels he started at. Now the small objects moved around the room, forcing him to move and shoot at the same time rather than quickly duck out of the circle and take out the flying balls faster with a few quick shots. The best part was that these targets were much smaller, meaning he had to be more precise with his shots.

He'd have to check on his next mission to see if his ability to do precision kills had improved, if so, he'd be practicing this way more often.

"Looked pretty difficult to me," Yorak said appearing now that it was safe.

"That's just because there's no cover here," Keith stated before taking a drink of water, "everywhere else we've been we've had places to hide and wait."

"Are you done for today?"

"Nah, I should probably get more practice with this," Keith said grabbing his bayard, "at least as a cool down before going to get some food."

"Sounds like fun to me," Yorak said flying to a safe little corned of the room where he could watch.

"Gladiator, start training level 15," Keith called. It would be fairly easy, but still enough to give him a workout.

The white drone dropped from the ceiling, and Keith charged. Ducking under the sword, he parried, spinning around and attempting to slice its arm off when the robot blocked his attack, forcing him to take a few steps back.

Pulling a few steps back, he readjusted the grip on his bayard, and jumped as the Gladiator swung at his legs, before it kicked him to the side sending him sliding across the floor and rolling to his feet panting.

Maybe he should take a break after all, if this thing was beating him after he'd already obliterated it a few days before, then that was a sign he needed some rest. Even Guardians couldn't go on forever.

…Though…that definitely wasn't a move of a level fifteen bot. Probably just a glitch though, best to let Coran fix it.

"End training sequence," he breathed.

The bot started walking towards him, moving to grip the sword with both hands.

"End training sequence!"

It started running towards him holding the blade with a glowing red eye and the intent to kill.

"End training sequence now!"

The bot sprinted up and knocked his blade out of his hand. Jumping up to kick, Keith caught the leg and hurled it back, cracks spreading across the wall where it had made impact. Sprinting towards his bayard, Keith saw a flash of blue just in time to slide to his knees under the blade that would've otherwise decapitiated him. Springing back to his feet, he spun around, giving a roundhouse kick to the gladiator's helm, relieved when the satisfying sound of metal being crushed sounded and the robot vanished.

He won, as usual.

"What was that?!" Yorak exclaimed flying over, making sure any wounds Keith received were healing properly.

"Not a level fifteen," Keith panted wiping the sweat off his brow, "probably a malfunction."

"We should let Coran know."

"Why?" Keith smiled teasingly. "You don't want to try yourself?"

"He knows the systems better than I do, I could break something. This place is ancient."

"True," Keith agreed picking up his bayard and hanging it back on the belt as he started walking to the door. "I think I'll call it a day, food sound good?"

"I don't eat."

"Well, food sounds good to me," Keith said only to stop as he heard something hit the ground behind them. Slowly turning their eyes widened as they saw another gladiator standing with a sword marching towards them. "Yorak—!"

"You don't have to tell me!" he said disappearing before Keith sprinted to the door, making sure it closed behind him. No way, there was no way this was happening. This was like something out of a cheesy horror film.

His peace was relatively short-lived as the gladiator's sword appeared through the doors, forcing them apart, and letting the burning red optic shine through.

-.-

Jaz lied on the floor of the Green Lion's hangar as Pidge and Hunk worked on scanning the crystal. So far neither had found any magical aspects she needed to look into but judging by the violet light rolling off it she'd be checking soon.

"I bet if we can modulate the dynamics of this crystal we can reverse engineer a lot of Galra tech," Pidge said typing on her laptop. Don't you think?"

"Maybe, but keep in mind that the Galra have the druids, we don't know how much of their dark magic goes into their tech," Jaz answered.

Pidge made a contemplative sound. "True. What do you think Hunk?" she asked. After a moment of silence, the two girls looked at each other then at the teenage boy spaced out beside them. "Hunk? Are you even paying attention?"

"What?" he asked looking towards them. "No, I'm sorry, that whole food goo thing put me on edge, guys. If we can't trust food, we are lost as a culture."

Jaz rolled over onto her stomach and raised an eyebrow as she propped her chin on her hand. "Hunk? Haven't you ever gone hunting? The food always fights back."

"Yeah, but then the food's still alive. The goo isn't alive!"

"If it was every time we'd eat it it'd scream," Jaz snickered as Hunk paled at the thought.

"You don't think it could become the Blob do you?!"

"Relax," Pidge said crawling up on the crystal and moving a few wires, "I'm sure the Castle's just glitchy. It's ten thousand years old, there's bound to be some system malfucntions."

"Yeah, it doesn't seem like the ship's not currently trying to kill us."

"Ok, so all the sensors are on the crystal, Jaz, can you hit the switch?"

"No thanks, I'm comfy down here."

Pidge sighed and looked at Hunk, "Can you—?"

"On it," he said hopping over the to computer. Going to press a button, he froze as the deviced began floating in the air before the three people in the room began floating themselves.

"Hunk, did you accidentally hit the antigravity switch?" Pidge asked.

"Uh no. There's no antigravity switch…uh, is there?"

"That seems almost as bad as putting a big red button," Jaz pointed out.

Katie shrugged before grunting as she tried to grab onto the glowing Galra crystal as it floated in front of her. "Curse my short arms!"

"Oh, I hate those little things! All right, forget it, I'll swim over to you Pidge. Just hang on." Hunk said as he started to try swimming through the air before giving up. "That's it, I'm all out of moves."

"Maybe I can try something," Jaz said rightening herself. Putting her hand forward, a small ball of energy formed in her palm before it shot out like a beam, blasting Jaz back. She grunted as he back slammed into the Green Lion and grabbed it.

"Look out!"

The beam she fired ricocheted off the wall and back at her, forcing the Awoken woman to let go before she got scorched. "Well, so much for that," she muttered watching the lion slowly get further away.

"Please don't do that again!" Hunk cried.

"I don't plan on it."

-.-

Keith held Night Abolisher tightly as he smacked the gladiator's blade away again as it pursued him through the Castle halls. Ducking under another swing, he popped back up only to be greeted by a foot slamming into his chest.

Landing on the ground with a grunt he sumersaulted back to his feet, back now pressed against the wall. He was trained better than this, why was handling this thing so hard? Was it because he was so tired?

Getting to his feet, he heard a muffled shout through the wall, "KEITH!"

Turning his head, he blanched as he saw Lance pounding on the glass. That was an airlock…what the pit was Lance doing in there?! And was that a countdown he was now hearing?!

"What are you doing in there?!" he called before Lance made a motion and Keith ducked before he was decapitiated.

"I need help!"

Keith side-stepped as the robot swung down, using his sword he swung up, cutting the arm off, before the blade switched hands like his own bayard.

"Because if you don't get me out of here right now, I'm going to be sucked out into space!"

Keith rushed forwards and slid between the gladiator's legs, using his sword to cut one of them. Hopefully it would hinder its movements. Springing to his feet, he swung to slice off the remaining arm, when it blocked him again.

"I'M GETTING SUCKED OUT INTO SPACE!" Lance screamed.

Ok, he had to get Lance out, even if the idea of letting him fly off was templting. However, Keith would come back, Lance wouldn't. Looking to the airlock, he spotted the button to open it. Pushing with his full strength, the gladiator hastily stumbled back into the wall at the sudden change in force.

Spinning out of the deadlock and sending Night Abolisher back to storage, his opponent's sword swung down on where he had been as Keith slammed his hand on the button, opening the airlock doors. The robot flew out, and Keith reached in, grabbing Lance and yanking him as hard as he could back into safety before the doors closed.

Sitting back with a sigh, Keith gave himself a moment to calm down and let his breathing return to normal. If he got too worked up, then he might accidently release a burst of Light and he didn't want to explain that to Lance, or accidently kill him if it went off.

"What were you doing out there?" he demanded glaring at the Cuban boy.

"Who was that guy?!"

"He was trying to kill me!"

"Well is he the Castle? Because that's who's trying to kill me!" Lance exclaimed and they both froze.

Ok, so the Blue Paladin had been lured into an airlock by something that wasn't there, and Keith had been attacked twice by the robots on the training deck after he'd ended the session.

Lance seemed to reach the same conclusion as him, because they both shot to their feet and raced to find the others before the next deathtrap could start.

-.-

"Wait, I have an idea," Pidge said getting Jaz and Hunk to perk up.

"Huh?"

"What is it?!"

"Hunk, grab on!" she said reaching for the person floating the closest to her.

Reaching out, they both stretched as far as they could, thankfully they were close enough to grab each other's hands and pull themselves closer. Grabbing each other's arms, they straightened out.

"We did it, now what?" Hunk asked.

"Now kick me as hard as you can!"

"What? No. We're friends," Hunk whined.

"No, no. kick me so I can reach the control panel across the room," she stated, pointing towards the door.

"Oh." Turning her around, Hunk placed his foot on her back just as Jaz's eyes widened.

"Wait!"

Pushing Katie off, they watched as she soared towards the door before she began yelling. "No, no, no!" she yelped before grunting as she bounced off the door and floor painfully back up into the air.

"You forgot to account for the fact there's nothing to slow you down," Jaz stated.

"You could've told me before I shot off!"

"I tried!"

The doors opened with a hiss and gravity worked again. Slamming into the ground with pained grunts, they sat up rubbing the various body parts that had hit the floor as Lance, Coran, and Keith walked in.

"How can you guys be taking a nap while this Castle's trying to kill us?!" Lance questioned angrily.

"Taking a nap? We've been floating around in Zero G!" Hunk stated. "Do you know how scary that is?!"

"That's not scary that's fun! I WAS ALMOST EJECTED INTO SPACE!" Lance screamed.

"Well I got attacked by killer food, and that's the most horrifying thing you can imagine! THE STUFF OF NIGHTMARES! IT'LL HAUNT ME TO MY GRAVE!"

"Well I spent the last half-hour fighting off killer robots!" Keith exclaimed tossing his arms up in the air.

"I don't care what you say Coran. This castle's gone apples and bananas!" Lance snapped whirling on the Altean advisor.

Coran groaned, sounding exhausted, "Perhaps the infection from Sendak's Galra crystal is worse than we thought."

"Then let's get rid of it."

"It's too late, when Sendak plugged it into the ship, it corrupted the entire system," he stated.

"Sendak?" Keith questioned quietly furrowing his eyebrows. Something was wrong, but what would…Traveler. "Where's Shiro?"

"I think he's still observing Sendak's memory scan," Coran stated jumping as the Red Paladin whirled on his heel and started jogging off.

"Where are you going?!"

Keith slowed down and turned around to look at them. "If the Castle's already tried to kill us, what do you think it could do to him?!" he replied before spinning around and sprinting down the hall, the others' hurried footsteps resounding behind him.

Racing down to the brig, Keith had to keep himself from slamming into walls as he made turns from where Yorak was giving directions. Making a final turn he saw his friend leaning against the memory scanner, holding a hand to his head and he was visibly shaking.

"Shiro!" Keith called, slowing down and jogging over.

"Are you alright?" Jaz asked falling into step with him.

Keith looked at where the pod was supposed to be and paled. "Where's Sendak?"

"I—I had to get him outta here," Shiro stuttered, eyes wide with fear as his frame shook, "I was hearing his voice. He—He can't be trusted be trusted on this ship."

Jaz and Keith looked at each other in shock. Shiro…Shiro ejected Sendak into space?

"It is the ship!" Lance snapped storming up with the others. "I got stuck in a cryo-pod and then an airlock. Keith got attacked by robots, and Hunk, Jaz, and Pidge were attacked by food. It's been a weird morning."

"I've had weirder," Jaz shrugged and Keith huffed in agreement.

Shiro gave a small laugh as he calmed down, seeing the others look at the duo in confusion. At least they all came when they did, if this thing about the Castle was true, then it might've been making him hear Sendak's voice.

He didn't want to imagine what would've happened if they hadn't come to his aid.

The monitor at the end of the hall beeped, and a picture of the Castle in front of what looked like a wromhole appeared.

"What? How is this possible?" Coran breathed.

"What is it?"

"The ship's starting a wormhole jump!"

"I thought only Allura could create those?" Jaz questioned.

"You're right, and she's supposed to be resting," Coran stated.

"We need to get to the bridge, figure out what's going on," Shiro stated standing up straight.

Nodding in agreement, they all sprinted for the nearest elevator.

-.-

The doors to the bridge opened and they all saw Allura standing at the controls in her nightgown.

"Allura, what's going on?" Shiro asked.

"We're going to Altea," she said, her tone making them all freeze. "We're going home. My father is taking us."

"The dark magic of the crystal," Jaz hissed as she and Shiro rushed forwards to grab her.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" Alfor shouted. Jaz and Shiro slammed into a barrier that erupted between them, sending both sprawling on their backs.

"Uh…"

"Allura! Wake up!" Shiro called.

"Fight it!"

"The crystal must've corrupted King Alfor's artificial intelligence. It's taking over!"

"Well at least now we know who to blame for our predicament," Jaz grumbled.

They came out of the wormhole and were instantly blinded by the burning glow of the dying star in front of them.

"We're heading straight for a star and it's about to explode!" Pidge warned.

"Father, I can see Altea," Allura said still caught in whatever trance the AI had her in.

"Allura! Allura! Wake up! What you're seeing isn't real!" Coran called.

"The juniberries," she breathed picking up something a pink flower materialized in her hand, "the most exquisite flower of all."

"Allura! Please! You've gotta listen to me!"

She looked up at them and saw a glimmer of confusion in her eyes, maybe Coran was finally getting through to her. "…Is this real?"

"Of course it is real daughter. That flower you're touching is real."

"But where is the fragrance of the sweet juniberries?" Coran proded and Allura lifted the flower to her nose.

Sniffing it, her eyes widened and cleared and the image of Altea was replaced with that of the star. "That's not Altea!"

"When that star goes supernova, it'll destroy the entire system," Pidge stated. "Allura, you must reset the coordinates and get us outta here!"

Nodding, Allura rushed forwards and attempted to place her hands on the controls. As she did so, electricity shot out, making her cry out as she was sent stumbling out through the barrier where Shiro caught her.

"Father please," Allura pleaded pressing her hands up against the barrier, "I beg you, turn this ship around. If we don't do it soon, we'll all perish!"

"I know. That is my intention," the hologram replied.

"What? Why?!"

"Don't you see dear daughter? Zarkon can never be defeated. He's been ruling for ten thousand years."

"Konir sagon skoros vestis nūmāzma Oryx tolī, se jurnegon skoriot issa sir [That's what they said about Oryx too, and look where he is now]," Keith growled as the others assumed he was cursing the AI out.

"But we must continue to fight!" Allura protested.

"Fight for what?" he asked. "It's all over for Altea. You don't have to live in a lifetime of war. You can be with me and the rest of your people."

"And just add Alteans to the list of extinct races that Zarkon's caused, no thanks!" Jaz snarled.

"Father please! The Paladins and I can still stop Zarkon! Somewhere in there, you must want that to happen!"

The hologram glitched out for a moment. "Allura, my AI has been corrupted. You must disconnect my power source," he said before flickering again, "We can stroll across the Blossom Canyon every morning, just like we used to. Remember how much you used to love that?"

"I remember, I'll see you soon father," Allura said calmly before whirling around as the hologram fizzled away. "I've got to get into the AI chamber to disconnect my father's power source manually."

"But that means…losing King Alfor, forever."

"Paladins, get to your lions! I need you to slow the Castle's descent into the star," Allura ordered rushing past them.

"I can try to over ride they system to open the hangars," Coran said running to his station.

"I'll use my magic to try to get through the barrier and try to turn this bucket of bolts around," Jaz added walking up to the barrier and pressing her palms together.

As her hands began to glow, the Paladins raced to their lions and shot out in front of the Castle pressing against and activating the trusters on full power.

"I got the hangars open!" Coran said. "Jaz, how long do you think it will take to get through."

"Hopefully not too long," she said shoving her hands forwards. She grimaced as she felt the electricity stinging her, but her magic seemed to be holding it off for the most part. Slowly spreading her hands apart, she started to make a hole in the barrier.

Forcing it large enough, Jaz held back pained grunts and hisses as the energy arced over her. She pulled a few more inches before leaping through, barely making it before the barrier closed.

"I'm in," she panted going up to the controls and placing her hands on the controls. "Guys, I'm going to start backing the ship up!"

/Hurry up!/

Jolting to a stop, the Castle began slowly turning around away from the star a few moments before the barrier around the controls dropped.

"Paladins! Get to your hangars! We're getting out of here!" Allura commanded as she raced in, going up to the controls as Jaz stepped aside. "Thanks for taking the controls Jaz."

"No prob," she panted from the floor.

"The lions are in their hangars!"

"Good," Allura said activating the wormhole and flying through it as the star exploded behind them.

-.-

"I'm so sorry about your father Princess," Shiro apologized, placing a hand on her shoulder as they all sat on the bridge.

"We all are," Hunk voiced as Lance nodded in agreement.

Allura looked up at them all in gratitude. "Thank you. But that was not my father," she said standing up. "The real King Alfor was a great man and a great father. He may not be with us anymore, but his dream lives on through all of us, and his legacy is Voltron."

**A/N: hey guys! Back for another chapter! Now, don't worry, more Destiny aspects will be coming in soon, I just need y'all to be patient. I have plans. Let me know what y'all think of the story so far! See y'all next chapter!**


	12. Forbidden Magic

Chapter 12

**A/N: Alright! New chapter! Sorry for the wait. Anyways, I just own the story and my OCs Jaz, Darvah, and others who we'll meet later!**

**/comms/**

**_Flashbacks/telepathy_**

**"Bold is ship intercoms because I don't think they really count as comlinks"**

Everyone stood around Pidge as she typed on a monitor as they looked through Sendak's memories for intel they could use to their advantage. "Surely somewhere in Sendak's memories we should be able to find the inside information that gives us the key to take down Zarkon," Allura smirked.

"I don't think your father would approve of searching through an enemy's memories," Coran chided.

"My mother would," Jaz smiled.

"I believe we should do everything we can to defeat Zarkon."

"Once we learn all his weaknesses, we can drive up to his front door and challenge him to a fight," Lance said punching his fist into his palm. "Winner gets the universe!"

"Nunon fod Zu'u lor hi vistni ofaal naan hinzaaliik [Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber]," Jaz sighed as Lance made a sound mixing between protest and betrayed.

"Anything good yet Pidge?"

"We were only able to salvage bits and pieces."

Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We need something to work with. Right now, we don't even have a decent map of the empire."

"Who needs a map?" Lance questioned raising an eyebrow. "After ten thousand years of conquering, I'm pretty sure I could fire my bayard into any random point in space and hit a Galra ship."

"But we have to keep in mind that the Galra aren't the only bad guys we could be up against," Jaz stated. "The universe is a big place. I guarantee there are worse things out there than the Galra."

"Like the Hive!" Coran commented. "Those things were real nasty. Known for—"

"Now's not the time for one of your crazy stories Coran," Lance interrupted.

"If we could just find troop locations or supply routes, small targets we could hit-and-run, then we could start to free planets one by one," Shiro suggested.

"That might take awhile."

"Boring! I want the big kaboom!"

"Zarkon's been building his empire for ten thousand years, we're not going to tear it down overnight with five intexperienced pilots, one support ship, and Jaz's magic."

Jaz flipped a piece of azure hair off her shoulder, "I wasn't saying we were. But we should hit some major points too, otherwise any planets we free will be susceptible to being reconquered."

"Ok, I've cross-referenced Sendak's memories with the info I got from the downloaded ship on Arus," Pidge announced. "Most of it was a garbled mess, but one thing kept repeating, something called a 'Universal Station.'"

"Universal Station? Like the kind of station that controls the whole universe?" Hunk questioned.

"Well we are translating it from Galra so it could also mean 'Galactic Hub'," Katie corrected.

"Or 'Space Base,'" Lance smirked.

"Hilarious."

"I know right?"

"I mean the fact that you think you're funny," Jaz snickered as Shiro tossed her an annoyed glance.

"I'm pulling up the location of your Universal Hub Station Base," Coran stated walking over to the controls and pulling up a feed of the location.

On the screen, three celestial bodies appeared, but none appeared big enough to house a Galra base.

"So…where is it?"

"Don't know," Coran replied as he typed, "our long ranage sensors are unable to find anything at those coordinates."

"Maybe he remembered it wrong," Keith sighed.

"Or maybe we just stumbled across a top-secret base in Sendak's memories," Pidge grinned evilly.

"They could be using cloaking technology," Jaz offered crossing her arms, "that's what we did during the war with the House of Wolves."

"There's only one way to find out, we need to take a look," Allura declared.

-.-

"We should be close enough to scan, but far enough away to avoid being noticed," Allura said as they flew closer to the area. Somewhere in the back they heard Hunk fall off the chair he'd been sleeping on with a cry.

Flying close behind the gas planet, they came around and saw a base floating a large asteroid.

"There it is."

"Appears that the gravitation from the two planets, warps the electron emission spectrum enough to keep the base off the deep soace scanners," Coran informed.

"So you can only see it if you really know where to look," Pidge muttered.

"Smart," Jaz murmured watching the flow of ships.

"This place must handle shipments from all over the Galra empire," Shiro murmured.

"If this is just a big airport where shipments come and go, why is it hidden?"

"Because this is where they most-likely ship the classified stuff," Jaz stated, "fuel, weapons, things like that. Those are just what you'd want to keep hidden from your enemies."

"We should go down there and confirm," Allura stated and a small part of the base flashed, "this is where we'll need to enter. The central control building."

Keith nodded, the central controls would have all the information on what was being—wait… "I'm sorry Princess. Did you say 'we'?" he asked.

"I'm going with you," Allura said calmly.

"You didn't just expect us to sit around now did you?" Jaz teased slinging an arm over her friend's shoulder.

"You? No. Her? Yes."

Allura's eyebrow twitched for a moment, "I've traveled through the Galra transportation hubs many times with my father before the war began. I know more about them than any of you."

"Did you know the difference between civilian and military?"

"They were military hubs."

"Were they top-secret though? Functions change depending on classification," he stated.

"Princess, I'd rather you stay here," Coran said coming to Keith's aid.

"I'm apart of this fight against Zarkon as much as anyone. I'm going. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

"Uh…"

"Ye—" Keith started before Jaz slapped her palm over his mouth before yelping and quickling yanking it back.

"Did you just lick my hand?!"

"Don't put it over my mouth!"

"Fine. Suit up," Shiro answered and Coran muffled a frustraited scream. "We'll go in low and fast, and hopefully undetected, coming around the darkside of the nearest planet should keep them from getting a visual on us. Thanks to Pidge's modifications to the Green Lion, we'll have thirty seconds of cloaking."

"I can flood their sensors with a radiation burst," Coran offered. "That should buy you a minute or so while they assume it's cosmic interference. But after that it's up to you to be out of sight."

-.-

"Interference clear in three. Two. One," a sentry said as the commander on deck gave a loud yawn.

"Psst. Hey," Shiro called quietly.

The Galra man turned around and was greeted by the Black Paladin's fist meetng his face slamming him back to the ground between the two sentries.

The bots turned and were swiftly shot down by Lance and Hunk before they got all set up.

"How's it look out there?" Shiro asked.

"All clear," Keith said.

"No one's heading down the hall," Jaz said removing the hood of the black cloak she found and removing the tint from the helmet. "How's the hacking going?"

"Shouldn't take too long," Hunk answered attaching the final cords to the console.

"We'll have all the information we need in a few minutes," Katie stated. "Hunk and I made some improvements since the last time I tried to download Galra info. We should get a nice, clean translation immediately. Hunk had a great idea about how to do it."

"Yeah! Do you guys remember when we studied algorithms at the Garrison," he asked sitting down on one of the fallen sentries, "and Mr. York told us that horrible joke about the ghost learning symbolic logic and innumerably infinite sets?"

"Boring!"

"Right, yeah, it was totally boring. Anyways, the joke goes," Hunk started as Lance groaned.

Keith looked out the window, and silently thanked God. "Hate to interrupt, but we've got company."

Looking up to see what he meant, they all looked up and saw the landing crusier.

"Should we get outta here?" Jaz asked agjusting her grip on the rifle Keith loaned her.

"We just need a few more seconds," Pidge replied.

"Everyone stay low, we need this intel," Shiro ordered.

"Well there goes my plans of prancing around her like a newborn Vixin," Jaz remarked, before the computer beeped. "Down!"

Pressing themselves against the floor and the console, they watched as the transmission screen appeared, with a very confused officer looking around.

"Zu'u lorot saran fah siintul [I think he's waiting for a signal]," Jaz hissed.

"Ofaal nii [Got it]," Hunk replied grabbing the downed sentry and its armbefore propping it up into the viewscreen's visibility. Making a fe points and a thumbs-up, the officer waved and shut down the transmission. "Whew."

"Nice job Hunk," Lance praised.

"Thanks," Hunk smiled as they highfived.

"Download complete," Pidge stated.

"What's it say?"

"Nothing! There's no useful information here! Just a schedule of ships coming in and out."

"Well, I guess this place was a bust," Lance grumbled.

"Maybe not," Jaz smirked.

Shiro raised an eyebrow looking at his friend, "What do you mean?"

"Well, think about it like this: If I was shipping something of high-value, would you want me putting the intel of what I'm transporting on the manifest or would you just keep the schedule?"

"I'd keep the schedule," Shiro realized. "That means the real intel is on the ship."

"Bingo."

"Pidge, do you know where that ship is headed?" Allura inquired.

"Um, let's see, it's scheduled to be here for about half an hour, then it's heading for Central Command."

"I'll sneak onboard and get the intel for us," Allura stated stabding up.

Jaz walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe I should do it, I'm actually trained as a spy. Besides. How would you even get in? I can cast an illusion to make myself appear like a Galra soldier."

"I'll walk through the front door," Allura smiled taking off her helmet. Closing her eyes, they all watched as she grew about a foot and turned purple.

Keith had to blink, it'd been a while since he'd seen an Altean look like this. Last time he saw one was back on Terra, most Alteans on his home planet had long ago given up on blending into the Fae people like they had in the past to protect themselves from whoever was hunting them. However, he saw one when he was playing fetch with his drake as a child, he'd also had long white hair and had been purple, but he was mimicking wrong. Most Alteans changed a different color than their marks because the Fae had marks similar to their own, he was all purple, his marks weren't visible.

"How the heck did you do that?" Hunk asked.

"The Alteans are a chameleon-like people who can blend in with the local populations. It's an ability that made us great explorers and diplomats throughout our history," Allura explained to the others.

"So, can you turn into, like, a balloon?!" Lance asked.

"How many colors can you be at once?" Pidge inquired.

"Aren't you afraid you'll rip your pants?" Hunk questioned.

"No. Just one at a time. And I will need a change in costume," Allura answered looking to the guard. "I can use his armor as a disguise."

"Guess that means I better change too," Jaz smirked before closing her eyes and pressing her hands together. Smoke crept up her frame, and as it travelled, they could see clothes being replaced with Galra armor, she got taller, turned purple with white marks and cat ears, and solid yellow eyes. "How do I look?"

"Galra," Lance replied.

"I'm not letting you to go in alone," Shiro stated stepping forwards.

"Who said we were asking for permission?" Allura scoffed.

Jaz growled and her new ears flattened to her head. "Shiro, I swear to God if this is because we're girls I will kick your reym into the next dimension!"

"It's too dangerous!"

"We can handle whoever gets in our way!"

Allura nodded in assent. "You will stick out like a Choferiak's nose."

"You're going to need that nose," Pidge stated grabbing Shiro's arm, "Shiro's hand is made from Galra tech. It's the only thing we have that will allow us to interface with their systems and gather intel. I can monitor the download remotely from down here."

"Hmm," Jaz mused, "you don't mind _lending_ us a hand for a little while do you?"

"You're not taking my arm!"

Allura gave an exasperated sound, "Fine Shiro, you can come."

"Killjoy."

"You guys might want to hurry up before the ship leaves for Zarkon central," Hunk pointed out.

"How are you going to get Shiro on board?" Keith asked.

The boarding party looked at each other before Jaz jumped in the air. "I've got it!"

-.-

Jaz and Allura walked side by side pushing crates filled with random parts they grabbed and Shiro in one of the boxes.

Walking up to the guards, one raised his hand, "Hault."

The two women shared a glance, sharing a silent agreement to protect Shiro if a fight broke out.

Sentries walked down the bridge pushing large cylinders filled with a yellow liquid. As they walked passed them and off the ramp, the guards stepped aside, waving them along.

"Whew," Allura breathed.

"Save it for when we're done," Jaz hissed was they walked inside.

Pulling off into a deserted storeroom, they pulled Shiro out of the box.

"Let's go," he said as they crept to the door and peered out into the halls, where dozens of Galra sentries stood or walked by.

One walked closer and they pressed themselves against the wall, holding their breath as it passed, it's footsteps clicking against the metal floors.

_Flashback_

_Shiro stood by the door of the cell he shared with Jaz, he was tapping the wall as it passed timing the patrol. _

_A pattern that didn't match came around and he perked up as he saw bloody, chained, but alive Awoken woman struggling against her guards through the slit in the door. Stepping back, the door opened, and they tossed Jaz in, slamming the door behind her._

_"Hi p'vahzah [You alright]?" Shiro questioned kneeling next to her._

_"Yuvon [Fine]," she grunted getting to her knees and spitting out some blood before giving him a dark smile, "hi rul koraav faal tolie vach [you should see the other guy]."_

"Shiro?" Allura asked snapping the Black Paladin back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"I just remembered how we escaped from the Galra prison ship—or at least how we might've done it," he corrected looking at Jaz as her currently solid yellow eyes widened.

"Do tell, cause I don't think I remembered correctly."

Shiro nodded, "Most of the ship's personnel are sentries, when I was a prisoner, I'd time their pattern to keep myself occupied."

"Do you remember it?" Allura asked.

"Let's find out," Shiro said grabbing Allura's hand and leading her back into another hall as Jaz followed.

A moment later, sentries passed.

Going around the corner again, Shiro tapped the wall, before they moved, racing quietly behind another sentry patrol.

-.-

"They're in," Lance said as they watched the boarding party disappear inside the Galra crusier.

"Let's hope they don't get caught," Hunk winced.

"Don't jinx it!" Lance scolded as Hunk quickly apologized.

Keith, however, wasn't too worried. Shiro's fighting abilities had improved tremendously since he'd last sparred against him on Earth and Allura could hold her own. And if neither of them were capable, then he had full confidence his childhood friend would completely obliterate any Galra in her way.

Jaz did not like it when people got in her way.

Looking down at the glowing contaners, he felt the corners of his mouth pinch down into a frown. They resembled the bombs he'd seen be deconstructed during videos of assault missions against the Hive. But, these tubes lacked the dark sickly-looking green color and were a vibrant yellow, and Keith wasn't getting a bad vibe from them like he would with a Hive bomb.

"What do you think's in those containers?" Keith muttered more to himself and Yorak than anyone else.

Though, that didn't stop them from answering. "I'm guessing sporks," Hunk replied causing them to look at the Yellow Paladin. Was he serious?

"What? This is an advanced race we're talking about here," he stated firmly looking at them like they were crazy, "sure they've learned it's foolish to have forks and spoons when one tool will efficiently do the job."

"Maybe this guy will tell us," Pidge said as she typed on her computer, before looking up at the drone connected to it, "What's coming in and out of this station?"

"Interrogation detected. Initiating lockdown," it answered before powering down.

"Not talkin' eh?" she growled before she began frantically typing again at a speed Keith was sure only computers could achieve.

Though he couldn't spend too much time trying to figure out if Katie Holt was really a cyborg, because it was then the dark arua that Keith had sensed upon his arrival and grown. He initially brushed it off as aphrension before a mission or just frayed nerves from the past few days, however it seemed his assumptions had been sorely mistaken as he watched the dark robed figure glide onto the walkway.

"Check out this guy," he said and the others looked out the window to see what he was talking about. "Whatever's happening here that requires the base to be kept secret must have something to do with that wizard."

"Oh, cause he's wearing wizard robes!" Hunk laughed. "Good one Keith."

Keith ignored him, he wasn't joking, he was just stating what he knew this guy was. While he didn't look like a Hive wizard, it was easy to tell, for him at least, that he participated in similar practices. Practices that would normally have the Guardians up in arms.

"I'm gonna go check it out," he stated getting into a crouch and letting their protests be cut off by the door closing behind him. "Yorak is the tracker set?"

A scanner appeared in the corner of his visor, showing the white dot that was his target. _"All set."_

Nodding, Keith got outside and started following the wizard-thing and observing it through the scope of one of his distanced rifles. Where was it going? And what was it doing with the glowing liquid?

A set of doors opened on the other side of the walkway, and Keith stored his gun away, racing closer on the upper platforms. This was going to be a challenge. He couldn't get too close because whatever that thing was would sense him there, but if he let it have too far of a lead then it would get away.

"Are there any vents?"

_"Um…oh! Upper level! I can deactivate the security!"_

"Good," Keith said watching the doors close. Activating his jetpack, he flew up and swung his hand, letting his closest friend materialize.

Flying over to the device, he scanned it for a moment, before disappearing again. _"Got it. You're clear."_

"This'll be fun," he muttered removing the vent cover and crawling in. Thank God he wasn't in his normal armor, he'd get stuck if he was.

Following his ghost's directions through the ventilation system. Keith removed the cover and pulled out his bayard. Peering around the corner, he saw the two sentries that had brought in the containers walking towards him.

His bayard shifted into the familiar form of a semi-automatic rifle and he looked down the scope. Hopefully it would be quieter than a normal gun.

Pulling the trigger, Keith was relieved to find that his bayard rifle was much quieter than normal guns, in fact, he'd almost say there was a silencer on the end of it. Shifting it back into sword form, Keith crouched down and snuck closer to the room where all the light was coming from, making sure to avoid the path-like cervice going through the middle of the hall.

"What is this?" he whispered looking in.

There were dozens of shelves holding the containers of the mysterious yellow liquid all around the room of which Keith seemed to be standing at the bottom level of. He saw a massive platform extending out over the open pit above on which the wizard stood silently. One of the tubes was brought out and lowered above a massive spherical object that the platform led to. The yellow liquid began to flow out into the orb in a spiral pattern.

_"I've never seen liquid move like that before,"_ Yorak said.

"Neither have I," Keith agreed, watching as it began to fill up.

On the platform, the mysterious cloacked being stretched out their hands, and violet electricity shot off its fingertips and the change in the energy of the room was palpable as the fluid turned dark violet.

Keith froze as he watched the dark fluid get collected into smaller containers. Who in their right minds, would even think of practicing Hive rituals?

He needed to get the others out of here, fast. If this thing was capable of performing Hive magic—though crude—it was a testament to how dangerous they were.

-.-

Peering into a room, the boarding party almost gave a sigh of relief as they finally found a console. Activating his Galra arm, Shiro shot towards the two sentries on duty quickly taking them down before they could react.

"We only have a few minutes before the next patrol walks by, watch the door," Shiro ordered Jaz placing hs hand on the pad as Allura tossed the sentries to the other side of the room. "Ok Pidge, start the download."

/Generating access code/ Katie replied and Shiro raised an eyebrow as he saw the little Pidge face going across the screen. Was that just a Holt trait or a hacker trait in general because he'd seen Matt and Sam's screens do the same thing whenever they were hacking or repairing something. /We're in/

A red symbol began flashing on the screen. "I think there's a problem Pidge."

/Sit tight, I'm trying to work around it/

"Scanning for information," the computer said.

"Pidge."

/I'm on it!/

"What are you looking at?!" Jaz hissed, her ears flattening as an officer approached and Allura jumped, making sure they both were blocking the door.

"What's going on here? Who are you?"

"It's about time you got here," Allura said leaning against the wall, "where's the rest of your squad?"

"Uh, what squad?"

"The squad that's supposed me and my associates to our ship," Allura scolded. "Didn't you get the message?"

"Who's back there? What's going on?" he asked trying to look past the two women when Jaz grabbed him, pushing him back.

"We are from Zarkon's high command, our work is out of your pay grade and must not be disturbed or viewed by outside eyes," she snarled before developing a wicked smirk. "Unless you want to lose them that is."

The officer looked up at her and visibly gulped. "W-where's Chief Information Officer Plytox?" he stuttered.

"He's in there," Allura said. "Say hello Plyrox."

Shiro cleared his throat and deeped his voice, "It's Plytox!"

"Sorry sir," Allura apologized. "See."

"Oh. Vrepit sa sir!" the man saluted before smiling nervously. "I get his name wrong all the time too."

Jaz snorted. "Easy mistake to make, you should've seen me in my first week."

The officer winced, "That bad?"

"I was scrubbing the deck for three pheobs."

"Yikes," he said backing away. "Carry on."

"Bye," they both sang as he walked away before sighing in relief.

-.-

Keith activated the communication downlink, giving the Castle a live feed on what he saw. "Coran, you need to see this."

He instantly heard a gasp on the other end of the line. /I've never seen anything like it?/

/What is that?/ Pidge asked and Keith winced, he must've accidently activated it to all of them.

/The material is quintessence, the substance with the highest known energy per volume unit in the universe/ an automated voice replied.

"Who was that?"

/Pidge's robot, she got it to work for us/ Lance replied, /Nice job!/

/What? Impossible/ Coran gasped.

/Raw quintessence material is transported here from throughout the galaxy and refined into standardized Galra fuel requirements/ the robot continued.

/Did you guys hear that?/ Pidge asked.

/I can't believe it/ Coran breathed, /they actually found a new way to acquire quintessence!/

Keith made a mental note to ask Coran further about that later, sounded like it could be important to know for their mission. Especially since he'd never seen liquid quintessence like this before, the Speaker only mentioned liquid quintessence in the forms of the green that resulted from Hive magic; black which resided in the holds of Hive Gods, feeding them a constant flow of dark energy; and white of the Vex blood.

Any other type of quintessence he'd seen was in the form of Light.

"Guy's, I'm gonna steal some of this quint-whatever," he stated deactivating the link before anyone could argue.

Turning around, he crept away from the door, the next vial would pass soon, and he wanted to be out of sight when he stole it.

-.-

"Um…"

"Huh?" both girls said leaning out of the doorway to find the soldier they were talking to earlier walk back over.

"Do you think I could get assigned to Zarkon's unit? Nothing happens on this ship."

"You sure?" Jaz asked with a playful smile. "Zarkon mostly just sits on his throne, manages the empire, and looks pretty for the promotional stuff."

He shrugged, "Has to beat being stuck here."

"Well, what's your bloodthirstiness level on a scale of one to five?" Allura asked. "One being: No thanks I'm full and—"

"Five is Hive," Jaz interrupted.

"Hmm…"

"Don't hurt yourself thinking," Jaz said before Allura elbowed her.

"I apologize for her rudeness," Allura said tossing her a glare.

"Get the Commander's name wrong again?" he winced.

"You know it."

"Scrubbing the floors?"

"Not yet."

"Anyways, back to the question," Allura pressed.

"Well…if I'm honest, I'd say about a three."

"We can work on that," Allura said.

The alarm went off in the room.

"Huh?"

"Is there a drill today?" Jaz asked.

"I don't know?" Allura shrugged.

"**Fugitive prisoner 117-9875 detected. Remain where you are. Security alerted."**

The offier whipped out his gun and aimed it at them not seeming to sure on what to do. "Uh…help! Intruders!" he called as they slammed the door shut, several dents appearing where he had fired.

"I think we're in trouble," Shiro said.

"You think," Allura snapped.

"I don't know," Jaz grinned cracking her knuckles, "I think I like our odds."

"Of course _you_ would," Shiro deadpanned.

"I can clear the way for us," Allura said backing up, and shoulder-ramming the door, knocking it out of the wall and slamming into the guard. Standing straight up, the door fell away and the guard collapsed, allowing her to take his gun.

"Volzahreym," Jaz grinned high-fiving the Altean as Shiro stared in shock. "What, are you shocked that a Princess can take care of herself?"

"Uh…" Shiro trailed off but was saved from answering by gunfire.

Using the magic she was funneling into her disguise, Jaz shot a beam of energy down towards the sentries, melting them. "That's new," she muttered.

"Let's go!" Shiro scolded grabbing her arm and yanking her down the hall.

-.-

Keith watched as he saw the platform holding the canister moving towards him, getting a running start he jumped over, grabbed the vial and landing quietly on the other side of the hall, holding the dark thing to his chest.

Peering back into the room, he gave a quiet sigh, it didn't see him. Keith leaned against the wall and examined his loot: it was certainly dark energy, stroung enough for him to feel it, but nowhere near as powerful as Hive was, probably because the ceremonies weren't performed properly.

The air got lighter.

Looking back into the room, Keith's eyes widened, where'd the wizard go? It was just on the platform?!

The air in front of him seemed to condense and thicken before it materialized in front of him like a quiznacking Fallen Captain or Vex Minotaur. Shoving him back, Keith slammed on the ground before using his hand to slow himself down and rolling to his knees, summoning his bayard.

"Ok, plan B!" he snarled charging forwards.

It set the tube he stole on the next platform passing as Keith slashed, and it teleported a few feet to the right. Swinging again, it vanished and appeared behind him on the left. Leaping at him, Keith watched as his blade barely missed it as it teleported away in a mess of dark gas, reminiscent to the poison gas of Hive wizards.

He'd never seen anything besides Taken teleport like that.

The crackle of electricity filled the air, and Keith looked up towards where he felt the strongest surge of energy, spotting the wizard shoot lightling at him, making him jump and roll out of the way. Sprinting to a platform as the lightning follow, there was another crackle in the air and Keith stopped as the next blast hit where he would've been standing.

Fortunately, that blast, gave him cover. Racing through the smoke, he ran under it before activating his jetpack and leaping up. Swinging his sword down, he gasped as it impacted a shield, before a blast shot out of its hand and shot him across them room into the vats of quintessence.

He clutched his hand close to his chest. Traveler, it burned. Looking at his hand, he grimaced as he saw the burnt and mottled flesh and saw the armor had been fried away. The wound would heal, but he couldn't fight as well with a damaged gauntlet, it would hinder his movements weither he believed it or not.

He really hated Wizards.

"Mask," he growled.

_"Copy,"_ Yorak replied as he changed the armor.

The wizard seemed to balk as Keith stood up in his Guardian armor, holding a rifle in hand. "You wanted to play with fire, let's see how you'll like getting burned."

-.-

"Pidge, fire up the Green Lion! We're coming in hot!" Shiro ordered.

/We're on our way/ Pidge replied.

/We need to get Keith first!/ Hunk reminded.

"Where's Keith?!" Jaz demanded.

/He went to investigate something!/ Lance whined.

"Damn it," Shiro grunted, sliding to a stop as two sentries blocked their path.

Allura activated her weapon, pulling the trigger; and Jaz cried out, jumping back as it barely missed her, taking out a sentry behind them.

"YOU ALMOST KILLED ME!" Jaz screamed before erecting a shield as the sentries fired at them.

Shiro chared forwards and used his arm to slice through the robots with relative ease, stepping aside as Allura picked one up and hurled it through the shield, slamming down the sentries beyond it.

"You said you traveled around the galaxy! I mean, you fly a spaceship, how do you not know how to hold this thing correctly?!" Shiro demanded flipping Allura's gun around.

"Less talking more running!" Jaz ordered shoving them forwards.

"I'm tense, this is a tense situation!" Allura replied.

"This is exactly what I wanted to avoid," Jaz grumbled.

**"Secure all hatches. All personnel take positions for departure."**

-.-

Keith slammed his fist down on where the wizard had been before it teleported away, creating a crater where he landed. Sensing it appear across the room, he summoned a low shield as lightning hit. Crouching down behind it, he pulled out his rifle, took aim and fired, making his opponent generate a shield to defend itself from the onslaught of bullets. Running out of ammo in his current magazine, Keith focused his light into his hand for a grenade; he couldn't afford to waste bullets.

Hurling it across the room, the wizard froze before vanishing quickly as it exploded, spilling dozens of the quinetessence vats. Keith raced over to where it was, holding his next gun ready for the spot it would appear next.

Sensing it behind him, he turned around and was slammed back by lightning. Landing on the conveyer belt, he slid down, getting to his feet.

/Keith! Brace yourself! We're coming for extraction!/

That was all the warning Keith had before a falling piece of debris made the vat of quintessence explode behind him as Keith quickly changed back into his Paladin armor.

The Green Lion slammed through the roof, landing behind him, jaws open. **"Get in! We need to get Shiro, Jaz, and Allura!"**

Looking back where his enemy was, Keith grit his teeth, the wizard was gone and he had no answers. Hopping into the lion he looked at his hand, watching as the yellow liquid was slowly absorbed into his systems and his body seemed to burn with the excess energy.

Leaning against the walls comprising the lion's mouth, he held back a groan as light archs danced over him. Traveler, it hurt, it hurt so quiznaking much. It was a miracle he hadn't caused his body to shatter with the sheer amount of energy he was containing. Guardians frequently released their power for a reason.

-.-

"The escape pods are up here!" Shiro called leading the way as Allura and Jaz fired back at the sentries using the guns they swiped.

**"Formulating navigation. All crew secure hyper-speed positions."**

"Hurry!" Allura called ripping off he helmet, "We can't leave the ship once it goes into hyper-speed!"

"There it is!" Shiro said charging forwards as they ran in.

Jaz stopped in front of the door firing back. "Close it!"

Nodding, Shiro placed his hand on the panel, starting the doors to close, before Jaz screamed and fell, clutching her side. "Jaz!" Shiro called yanking her through the closing doors as Allura ran up and started to shove them closed as the sentries tried forcing themselves through.

"It's taking off!" Allura called looking at the pod.

"We're not leaving without you!" Shiro said helping Jaz to her feet.

Allura looked back at the pod, the doors were closing, and Jaz was injured. "You have to," she said abandoning her spot at the door, picking them up, and hurling them in.

"NO!" Shiro shouted, scrambling to his feet and slamming his fists on the pod doors as he watched the Sentries break through and grab Allura as they were shot out of the ship, just before it shot into hyperspace.

"Shiro…did 'Lura?" Jaz grunted sitting up, seeing his face, she closed her eyes and looked down. If only she didn't get hurt…

Then maybe Allura could've made it on the escape pod.


	13. Selfish Liars

Chapter 13

**A/N: I just own this story and my OCs involved, Destiny & Voltron aren't owned by me (sadly). **

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**/commlinks/**

**_Yorak telepathy/flashbacks_**

"Pidge scan the download from the ship," Shiro ordered helping Jaz limp onto the bridge, "find out where Zarkon's central command is."

"On it!" she said rushing over to her seat and quickly sifting through the data with Hunk's help.

"What happened?" Coran asked going over and helping support Jaz, "Where's Allura?"

"They captured her," Shiro growled.

"She sacrificed herself to save us and the intel," Jaz huffed. "She shoulda left me behind at least I could escape again."

"Coran, I'm sorry things didn't go the way we planned but we can't focus on what went wrong," Shiro said looking at the man before he could make Jaz feel worse than she already did, "we just need to figure out on how to make it right. Pidge anything?"

"Yeah, look at this," she said pushing a set of schematics onto the main viewscreen.

"Look at the size of it," Coran gasped.

"I think we should go in right away," Pidge stated, "with every minute we waste Zarkon has more time to prepare for us."

"I agree," Lance nodded, crossing his arms. "We fly in form Voltron, kick butt, fly out with Allura dust off our hands and walk away."

Jaz grunted as she pushed off Coran and stood on her own. "We don't even know if that's where Allura's being held."

"Oh, and how would you know?" Lance scoffed.

"My mother is Captain of the Queen's Guard and current Reagent of the Awoken, I grew up learning military strategy. If I were to have such a high-value target, I wouldn't place them in somewhere so obvious, despite its defenses. I'd put them somewhere…off the records," she hissed, before stifling a pained cry as she gripped her side and Coran caught her.

"Jaz, you really should get into a cryo-pod," Coran said.

"I've had worse, I'll manage," she grunted, trying to stand on her own again.

"Um, do you guys not remember the Balmera? We could barely take out one fleet," Hunk reminded, "but this…a base this size could house a thousand fleets!"

"Or maybe we shouldn't go at all," Keith said firmly. He didn't want to be the bad guy in this situation, however, it seemed no one was pointing out the obvious. "Think about it this way: If we go, we'll be delivering the universe's greatest weapon into the hands of one of its greatest enemies."

They all looked at him, and Keith clenched his jaw, he didn't like it, but it had to be said, someone had to remind them that this is what Zarkon was after all along. He'd been after the Voltron Lions for over ten-thousand years, did they really think that he'd just let them fly off into the sunset if they went straight into the den of the beast? Because if any of Keith's past lessons and experiences taught him is that when the opportunity arises, those with the will would grab it by the throat until they succeed.

Zarkon was one of those people.

He would eat this new team alive if given the chance. Keith would not let him have that chance, even if it meant turning his teammates against him. If they hated him for the rest of their lives, so be it, it was his duty as both a Paladin of Voltron and a Guardian to prevent monsters like Zarkon from winning. No matter the cost.

"Keith, that's cold, even for you," Hunk said being the first to speak up and break the stunned silence, "What if it was one of us? What if it was me? You wouldn't leave me, would you? Would you?"

Keith scowled and glared at them. Why couldn't they get this? "Look, I'm not saying I like the idea, I'm just thinking like a Paladin."

"No, you're thinking of yourself because you're too scared to do what's right!" Lance snapped.

Keith glared at them, who were they to tell them what was right and wrong? What was selfish?

Hunk was terrified, but at least he understood how dire the situation was after his initial journey to the Balmera. He comprehended that this was something he couldn't just leave because he wanted to; Hunk was too nice to stay still knowing there were people suffering under a tyrant's thumb. Honestly it made Keith a little proud that Hunk of all people understood this. However, that didn't stop him from voicing his desires to be anywhere other than saving countless lives.

Pidge had been about to leave the team to find her family. He couldn't blame her, he shared similar sentiments. He would kill for a chance to see his father again, to see Terra, his friends, his pets again after being gone for so long. Keith would love to know more about his mother other than the fact she left him his knife and that she wasn't human from what he gathered, most likely Faen, Awoken, or Altean, maybe one of the hybrid races. But what bothered him was how Pidge would've so blatantly abandoned her _team_ to try to find them with a clue she didn't even completely have. She would've left without even knowing if they could've found a replacement for her in the Green Lion. A member leaving the team was always devastating, he still felt the hole from when their parents sent him and his friends away to different places, he saw the change when Ryzor had died during the start of the Red War. Pidge couldn't have not known that her departure wouldn't have left a possibly unfillable void in their dynamic, not with her intellect.

And Lance…

Ever since Keith knew Lance, he had only ever been looking out for himself. It was Lance who wanted _glory_ for saving Shiro and Jaz from the Garrison, Keith was just rescuing whoever crashed. To him, the who didn't matter. Lance was the one who let the Blue Lion get stolen all because he was trying to impress a girl. Even after they explicitly told him "no" he still took her and look what happened. It was Lance who constantly messed up their training because he kept trying to distract him or show off and prove he was better. Even though Keith honestly couldn't give a draaf about this "rivalry" Lance concocted in his mind.

And now they were calling _him_ selfish? Saying he didn't know what was r_ight_?

"Enough!" Jaz snapped noticing Keith was about to lose it. "We're all upset on how we lost Allura, right now, we just need a battle strategy."

"You mean _Shiro_ lost Allura," Coran snarled glaring at the man.

"I lost her too Coran."

"You, Number 4, were injured in combat, therefore, you're excused."

"Ok! Ok! This isn't helping!" Hunk voiced. "We can't just sit here and bicker like this."

Shiro took a breath to calm himself down. "Let's focus. First off, Jaz, go to the medbay. You can barely stand."

-.-

Haggar glided onto the warship holding the Altean Princess, escorted by several of her underlings to keep her in check.

Macidus was there to meet her.

"Why have you left your post?" she demanded approaching the druid she had entrusted the quintessence refining in.

"The base became under attack by the Paladins of Voltron."

Haggar narrowed her eyes, he fled just for that reason? It seemed that even she for all her time alive is still capable of making mistakes, her last one had been eons ago. She didn't let him live long.

"And you run? Victory or death is the Galra way. Perhaps I had judged your skill to be too great for the task."

"You have not High Priestess, I was attacked by the Red Paladin. The one who hides his nature as a Guardian. He had his power, I could see it. Sense it. The amount of Quintessence he weilds within him is enough to perform a shatter."

She scowled at the statement, she had spent many decapheobs studying the Guardians. And all the Guardians she'd seen, never hid, not if they had their powers. The ones whom lost it after their mysterious fall, yes, they hid, and when they were found they were put under the Empire's protection at any cost. She could believe those Guardians, she could feel their quintessence, connected to a ghost, but weaker than anything she'd ever seen from them.

Otherwise no Guardians had been seen outside the Krien System since they vanished, and the Cabal Empire had a stronger foothold, so it made it almost impossible to say what happened to them. Those she had treated, never talked.

However, if there was one thing she knew for certain: A Guardian with powers, would never, ever hide their nature. To them, it would seem as an act of cowardace.

Macidus had been overjudged. A disappointment really, he had once held so much potential. If he had really faced a Guardian, he wouldn't have come out alive if he caused the warrior to lash out. Guardians never practiced Light Restraint to a level he was stating, it was simply too dangerous with the way they produced quintessence.

"Macidus, it seems you are no longer fit for the role I assigned you," she stated coldly, turning to the two to her left. "Take him to the chamber."

"Yes, High Priestess," they said escorting the protesting weakling away.

Haggar scowled turning back to her given task and moving towards the Princess' cell. She did not tolerate stupidity. Especially the stupidity of attacking a Guardian when they were so revered for their power and mercilessness; revered enough to where Zarkon had made it against the law at even lay a hand on one without their permission.

Macidus would not be killed, no, those with quintessence sensitivity were hard enough to find as it was. But he will most certainly feel her wrath for almost bringing shame upon their art by making wild accusations. She would see to it before Zarkon even got word.

Walking up to a cell, the door opened, revealing a face she hadn't seen in ten thousand years. The feeble daughter of the weak Altean King Alfor. "Come with me."

-.-

"Anything?" Shiro asked looking over Lance's shoulder as he worked.

"There's just no way in. They'll have us tracked from every direction."

"There has to be something. Keep looking," he ordered standing up and walking towards Coran. "I know you're worried about her. We all are. I'm sorry I let her slip away."

Coran glanced at the Black Paladin, noticing the man refused to meet his eyes in shame. "I know it's not your fault, you and Jaz did everything you could. It's just…I've already lost so much. I can't lose Allura too."

"We'll find a way to get her back," Shiro reassured. "If only there was a way to get to Zarkon's ship without being seen…"

Coran fowned before he started typing. "I think I found a way…" he pulled up an image of a gas giant within the Central Command system.

"Alright everyone, listen up," Shiro ordered. "Here's the plan: We're going to jump into the heart of the enemy unseen and undetected."

"I thought we needed Allura to open a wormhole?" Pidge questioned.

"It's true that Allura powers the Caslte's ability to travel through wormholes, however, I think we have enough of her residual essence stored in the system to make a jump. We'll hide the Castle here in the giant gas planets of the Command System. The gas is so dense, we'll be hidden."

"Form there we use the Castle to scan for Allura on Zarkon's ship," Shiro stated. "If she's not there, we can make a quick getaway before anyone notices, if she is there, we'll be able to attack before Zarkon knows what hit him."

"One problem though," Coran stated, "while Jaz's powers are similar enough to let us access Allura's residule energy in order to wormhole in; however we don't know if her own energy is compatible to power the systems. I'm afraid without Allura we won't have enough energy to wormhole out."

"It doesn't matter, we aren't leaving without her," Shiro resolved.

-.-

Inside the gas giant of the Galra Empire's Central Command System, a blue wormhole opened, allowing the Castle of Lions to arrive undetected.

"We're here," Shiro stated standing up.

"I'm detecting Allura's energy signature," Coran informed, "from this distance, it's pretty weak but she's somewhere on Zarkon's main ship."

"That's a lot of ground to cover," Jaz winced from her position at the helm.

"At least gives us a starting point," Keith stated. "Brig would most likely be on the lower levels or internal, somewhere where they couldn't reach an escape pod or hangar easily if they were to escape."

"Once we get closer, we can narrow down the location of where the Princess' being held."

"Alright guys, this is it," Shiro stated. "Voltron's going to come in fast and without warning. We'll smash our way into Zarkon's ship and grab the Princess. Before they know what hit them, we'll have Allura and be on our way."

"Coran and I will be providing you cover out here," Jaz added.

"You sure?" Lance asked raising an eyebrow. "You're still pretty weak from—"

"I can handle it. Get to your lions. The mission starts now."

Nodding in assent, the Paladins raced to their lions, shooting out of the Castle and forming Voltron before blasting their way towards the command ship.

Two beams of dark energy that made Keith's hair almost stand on end shot out of the top and bottom of the main ship, allowing a shield to form around the system.

That made him frown, if the ship wasn't defending itself from their attacks then what was it…it was a trap. The barrier was meant to keep Voltron from escaping.

_"And this is why this was a bad plan," _Yorak said.

"Agreed," Keith hissed under his breath. This mission was going to be hard already, that much he was certain.

/What is that?/ Hunk cried out.

/Don't know, but I hope once we get the Princess we can find a way out of here/ Pidge said.

_"Keith, warship cannons are charging up."_

/They're gonna fire!/ Katie warned before Keith could inform the others.

Voltron shot down towards a ship underneath it faster, seeing what Shiro was about to do, Keith pulled Red back and slammed Voltron's right fist into the hull, smirking as it breached it before the Green Lion's impact made another breach.

/Form sword!/ Shiro ordered and Keith whipped out his bayard, shoving it into the switch and burying the blade of Voltron into the hull.

Green joined Red in grasping the weapon, and Voltron flew down the length of the craft, dragging the blade through before flying away as the ship exploded dramatically behind them. Flying towards the next crusier, Keith slammed the sword into the hull, and Voltron pushed the trusters to max as they shoved the ship into two others, before taking off as thy blew up.

/More trouble dead ahead!/ Lance warned.

/Form shoulder cannon!/

Keith pulled out his bayard as Hunk put in his, allowing the massive weapon to materialize and fire to destroy the attacking crusiers in a blaze of glory.

"Nyke'd ossēnagon syt iā deppup hae bona [I'd kill for a cannon like that]," Keith grumbled, it would make Hive missions so much easier.

_"I'm sure you would, sword."_

Putting his bayard back into place, Voltron formed the sword once again as they flew towards Zarkon's ship.

Keith smirked as they flew closer, perhaps his fears had been irrelevant. This was easier than he thought it would be. Pushing the right arm forwards so the sword would stab through on impact, Keith grunted and gripped onto the controls tighter as pain rippled through his body.

"No…not now," he winced. This was not the time for his light to be acting up.

It was only when his bayard popped out of place, that Keith realized that this wasn't a result of his current problem.

/What's happening?!/

"We've lost the sword," he grunted back. "Something's malfunctioning." Swinging his hand, Yorak appeared and nodded.

"On it," he said scanning the systems as Keith tried to get Red to move. They were sitting ducks like this!

/What's happening?!/ Coran's panicked voice broke through.

/Someone do something! Voltron's frozen up!/ Lance shouted.

"Shiro!" Keith called looking for orders.

/I can't hold it!/ he called back.

**_"You're a fool to bring Voltron here,"_** a menacing voice snarled and they screamed as pain exploded. It felt like something was in their heads, forcing apart the bonds they used to control Voltron as a unit.

And it did. All five lions sperated and were shot away from each other.

/What just happened?! Something tore us apart!/ Hunk exclaimed.

/I don't know, but we've got bigger problems right now, look/ Lance said.

Keith grit his teeth as he turned Red and saw a horde or fighters and warships heading their way. "Why do I get the feeling these guys knew we were coming?"

"Because they did," Yorak said off to his side.

"Let's handle this," Keith snarled as he shot Red into the fray and begain firing his laser, letting it tear through the ships as he expertly weaved through them, leading the blasts from the cannons to hit other Galra vessels.

/There's no end to these guys!/ Hunk whined.

A blast came down from above and Keith turned to see the Castle flying towards them.

/CORAN ATTACK! I'VE WAITED TEN THOUSAND YEARS FOR THIS!/ Coran hollered as several orbs finished forming around it that fired all at once, slamming and melting through several of the crusiers.

/THAT'S FOR IMPRISIONING ME AND MY TEAM!/

/EXCELLENT SHOT JAZ!/

"Keith! Shiro's in trouble!" Yorak informed flying in front of his face and almost making him crash Red in the process.

"What did I say about flying in front of me?!" he scolded, pushing him out of the way before turning Red around to see what he was talking about.

The Black Lion hadn't moved from where it had stopped after being forced to separate, in fact, it was slowly drifting closer to the command ship.

"Thanks for the warning," he said unmuting his side of the comm-channel. "Shiro! Are you ok?!"

Shiro grunted as if in immense pain. /Something's overriding the controls! My lion's not respond—AHH/ he cut off into a scream as whatever was causing his pain got worse.

"Shiro's in trouble! I'm going in!" he called to the others.

"Shiro's been ejected out of the lion!" Yorak called.

"I see it!" he hissed urging Red to go faster, they couldn't afford to lose the Black Lion.

/What are we going to do? Out plan isn't really working out as well…planned!/ Hunk exclaimed.

/I'm going for the Black Lion. You guys get the Princess, now!/ Shiro ordered.

/I've identified Allura's exact location. Uploading coordinates now/ Coran informed. /In the meantime Jaz and I will provide cover fire out here. Alone. Against an entire fleet, so uh, yeah, do you mind hurrying?/

/My jetpack's damaged. I'll need to go through the ship/ Shiro called.

"Fighters on our tail."

"I know." Red fired a laser blast at the one in front, before Keith whirled her around, taking the two behind them by surprise. "Stay quiet," he hissed at the Yorak before removing the mute again. "You guys get the Princess without me."

/What? we need to stick together!/ Lance protested. /What are you doing?!/

"Whatever I have to, we can't let the Black Lion fall into Zarkon's hands," he replied closing the comm.

Speeding Red up, they rammed into the Black Lion at full force, sending it spinning into another section of the ship, away from Zarkon and closer to Shiro. Hopefully that would help him get back to it faster.

"Incoming!" Yorak warned as Keith saw a red and grey blur pass outside, landing in front of where the Black Lion crashed. He was old, tall, and infuriatingly familiar.

"Who the asul is that?"

/It's Zarkon!/ Coran exclaimed. /Keith get out of there! Zarkon's too powerful!/

Keith scrunched up his nose, flee? Coran wanted him to run away? Leave the Black Lion in his hands? Yeah right. He'd killed Wizards older than this guy, and he was in a ship, Zarkon wasn't.

It was clear who the odds in this situation favored.

/Keith don't!/ Coran called as Red dove down, firing her laser towards the Galran Emperor.

Pulling up, Keith turned and narrowed his eyes as he saw the shield vanish, maybe Zarkon would prove to be a challenge after all.

/You may have a lion. But its power is weak in your fledgling hands/ the emperor scoffed as he turned holding something familiar in his hand.

"Is that…?"

"The Black Bayard," Keith grumbled. "That explains a lot."

The bayard switched in his hands into a sword, swinging it, Zarkon sent a wave of energy flying towards them. Rolling out of the way, Keith felt Red growl and a sense of seething hatred burn through him. He wanted to destroy him, burn Zarkon until only ash remained. Make him pay for all the suffering he caused to them.

Red wanted to annilate this monster.

/You cannot stop me. The Black Lion will finally be returned to its original Paladin/

Red growled, no, Black nor any of their sisters would accept him after what he did to the previous Paladins! He was the source of all their pain, of their paladin's pains! He will _burn_, Red would make sure of it!

Firing at him again, Red watched as the shield manifested. Once it hit smoke erupted, allowing Red to dive down on the traitor, Red would enjoy crushing him under her paw.

Landing on all fours, the lion's gaze landed on the Emperor as he landed and summoned his sword. He began charging and Red roared racing towards him, firing as they got closer to each other.

Zarkon slammed into the lion's side, swinging his blade he managed to hurl them onto the hull, making Keith grunt in pain as he was jostled in the cabin. Opening his eyes he looked for Yorak? When did he vanish?

_"Keith!"_

Looking out, Keith moved Red as the cannon in Zarkon's grasp fired. The blast barely missed, ending up decimating part of the command system behind.

Now, he new why Coran was so worried before hand. Zarkon was not going to be easy to kill.

/Keith! Get out of there!/

_"Look out!"_

Keith moved again, as the blast made impact with the command ship. Flying back, he noticed a button flashing. Pressing it, he watched as a jawblade similar to the the one Shiro had summoned in the Balmera battle appeared in Red's jaws.

/Keith! Listen to me! it's imperative that you don't engage—!/

Keith cut off the comms, they were too distracting.

Driving Red down, he dodged the swings of Zarkon's bladed whip, flying back up, out of range, before turning around and divng back down behind the tyrant. Turning on his heel, Zarkon swung the whip, wrapping it around the lion and swinging down, hard.

Red gave an angry growl as she was hurled over and slammed into the ship again.

Keith sat up, glaring at his opponent as he formed a sword with the stolen bayard and began flying towards them.

"No."

They would not lose. Red refused to let Zarkon slaughter another Red Paladin. They would make Zarkon suffer!

Getting up with a roar, Red's railgun formed on the lion's back and fired, forcing Zarkon to stop and block the blast with the flat of his sword as it slowly pushed him back. he would not last under the gun's onslaught for long. Not even his shield could protect him from the rage of the Red Lion.

Ducking out of the way, the blast flew past their target and obliterated part of the central command system.

Red growled, Zarkon still wasn't dead. Flying up, they whipped around, aiming the cannon again. Firing, the beam chased Zarkon as he flew, trying to keep out of its reach. He couldn't run forever, eventually he would mess up and Red could kill him.

/You fight like a Galra soldier/ Zarkon's voice rang out through the cockpit making Keith blanch. Where'd he go?! /But not for long!/

The emperor flew up next to him, a large battle axe forming in his grasp, before he slammed it down onto Red. Sending her crashing into the ship again.

Keith grunted in pain as he was slammed against the controls again, even with his rapid healing he might be left with a few bruises from this fight, he'd give Zarkon that much credit. "Red?" he called, furrowing his eyebrows as he saw the systems were down. Zarkon must've hit her harder than he thought if he essentially knocked her out.

_"Keith! We need to go!"_

Looking back at Zarkon, Keith realized why Yorak seemed frantic; he had his sword out again, and it was aimed right for them.

"C'mon!" he called to Red again, trying to get her to move. Where was she? Why wasn't she responding with the same rage she had earlier?

Another roar echoed and they watched as Black swooped in and shot Zarkon back. before flying over and scooping up Red.

/I got ya buddy/ Shiro's reassuring voice rang out over the comms as they flew back into the Castle.

/Alright Paladins, time to get out of here!/ Allura said.

/Hello? What's going on?! Where's the wormhole?!/ Hunk called voicing what they were all thinking when the portal didn't appear.

/The Galra barrier's jamming our ability to create one!/ Coran answered.

"Are you kidding me?!" Keith exclaimed.

/No! they have us completely surrounded!/

/What just happened?!/ Pidge called as they saw a flicker of violet light.

/Sheild's down!/ Jaz called.

/Wormhole us outta here!/ Hunk shouted.

Going into the wormhole, Keith grunted as he was jostled again, this wormhole felt wrong. It was dark, cold, crackling with an energy worse than what he felt when he faced the Galra Wizard.

/Coran, what's happening?!/ Shiro demanded.

/Wormhole integrity's been compromised! It's breaking down!/

/What does that mean?/

/It means we have no control over where we're heading/ Jaz snapped.

The Castle shook violently as the energy grew worse, and Keith screamed as Red and Black were sucked out of the Castle before everything went dark.


	14. Light in the Dark

Chapter 14

**A/N: once again readers, story & OCs: mine, Voltron & Destiny: not mine. Kay?**

**/commlinks/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashbacks or Yorak talking privately to Guardian_**

Keith's consciousness returned to him slowly.

First thing he was aware of was that he was slumped over in his seat and everything hurt. Leaning back he took note of his injuries: several broken bones—ribs mostly, they'd heal in a minute; bruises, already vanishing; concussion, five minutes at most. Overall, his injuries could be worse.

"You ok Red?" he asked out quietly, moving the controls and furrowing his eyebrows when she only responded with a tired rumble. The battle against Zarkon took a lot out of her, emotionally and physically. "Alright, you rest up, it was a rough fight."

Patting the inside of her hull, Keith crawled out through the escape hatch. Standing on his lion's head, Keith looked around; landscape was dead, rocks were floating and Keith gave an exasperated groan as he saw a painfully familiar black substance clumped close to one of the rock formations.

On the biggest pod, was the familiar Hivian rune translating to _Chamber_, the rune used to commune with the dark gods of the Hive in their Ascendent Realms.

The universe just loved screwing him over didn't it?

"Where are we?" Keith muttered.

"I…I don't know," Yorak replied, "my scans aren't detecting any familiar constellations. We might have stumbled across an old Hive nest, maybe it's abaondoned?"

Keith slowly raised an eyebrow; the Hive? Abandon a nest? They never did. Once life on the planet had been wiped out the world was either destroyed or they turned to killing each other in order to feed the dark beings they worshipped.

"I know, not likely, considering our luck," he said looking down.

"Yeah, well…wait…" Keith trailed off, his eyes going wide, "where's Shiro?"

"He's, uh, oh Traveler."

"What?"

"The Black Lion crashed at a nest entrance."

Keith was right, this mission did suck.

-.-

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole's taking us!" Coran exclaimed.

"Coran! Jaz! Look! There's something on the other end!" Allura exclaimed.

"Lig dreh ni kos Kaplii! Lig dreh ni kos Kaplii!" Jaz chanted.

"We're heading right for it!"

"Scanners show that there's no exit, only nothingness!" Coran froze.

"What do you mean nothingness?!" Jaz exclaimed breaking her prayer.

"That's what I'm getting!" Coran exclaimed turning to look at them. "Find an exit before we run smack into the void!"

Allura raised her hands and began typing quickly. "I've lost control of the Castle!"

"Brace for impact!" Jaz ordered as they hit the void.

-.-

Lighting crackled outside the Castle, jostling It as it was sent hurtling aimlessly through the corrupted wormhole.

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us!" Coran exclaimed flipping his bangs out of the way, making his ponytail shift with it.

"We didn't die?" Jaz asked looking up before balking at Coran's appearance. "Huh?"

"Coran, we're ok!" Allura said.

"We just smashed into a black void, don't you remember?" the Princess questioned.

"I remember his hair being shorter," Jaz replied curtly.

"Jaz that's hardly—WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" Allura exclaimed before jumping as a pink squirrel jumped onto her shoulder. "What happened to the mice?!"

"What do you mean what happened to me?!"

Allura looked at Coran again. "What? Do I have a boogie in my moustache?"

"Jaz was right, you look…younger?"

"Scanners show there's no exit, only nothingness!"

"You said that already!" both girls shouted.

"Find an exit before we run smack into the void!"

"Entering coordinates to get us out of here!" Allura stated trying to type again before curling her lip in anger. "Nothing's working!"

"Just enter any coordinates!"

"What about 'nothing's working' do you not understand?!" Jaz snapped.

"Allura!" Coran called out before they were absorbed by the void once again.

-.-

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole's taking us!" Coran said.

"He's younger now," Jaz huffed getting back to her feet.

"And you changed too," Allura frowned.

"What do you mean?" Jaz asked and Allura pointed at her ears.

Grabbing the sides of her head, Jaz balked as she felt long pointed ears, running to the window she stared in shock as she was greeted by blue skin, long pointed ears, golden marks, and a pair of long translucent violet wings coming from her back.

She was a quiznacking Fae.

"I'm changing species?!"

"It would appear so," Allura worried.

"What's the matter ladies? You look confused?" Coran asked flexing his muscles. "Don't you worry yet, I'll get us out of here!"

Jaz's light blue skin turned darker, "I'm gonna hurl."

"Ah!" Allura shrieked, jumping as one of the mice-turned-cows licked her elbow. "We appear to be trapped in some sort of timeloop that's effecting everyone but me!"

"LUCKY YOU!"

"Scanners show that there's no exit. It's just—"

"Nothingness we know!" Jaz snapped flying in front of the Altean man.

"And we've already tried finding another exit!" Allura added.

"Don't just stand and fly there! We've got to find an exit! I'll never give into nothingness!"

Jaz was about to strangle Coran as they hit the void again.

-.-

Shiro groaned softly as he woke up lying in the cockpit of the unresponsive Black Lion. Slowly getting to his feet, he cried out and collapsed to his knees, clutching his side.

It hurt, Kami-sama, it burned. Every pulse of the mysterious energy in the wound sent agony rippling further through his exhausted, battered body as it continued to spread like a poison.

Shiro wanted nothing more than to curl up and try to escape the pain even though he knew there was no escape, nothing to fight against or hide from. Escaping the witch's magic was impossible.

Getting to his feet, he slowly made his way up and out of the escape hatch, biting back a scream and barely staying on his feet as he stood upon Black's head. "Keith?" he tried, opening up a comm-channel, "Are you there? Keith?"

His only response was static.

That made Shiro worry, Keith and Red had been pretty beat up as it was after their battle with Zarkon, the crash could've knocked Keith unconscious, or worse…It could've killed him depending on the speed of his impact and where he crashed. It wasn't like the lions had seatbelts

No.

No, Shiro couldn't afford to think like that, Keith was fine. Keith Kogane was too damn stubborn to die in a crash. The static was probably the result of a malfunction or the canyon walls blocking it from reaching his brother.

It might even be blocking any of Keith's calls from reaching him.

"I need to get to higher ground," he breathed.

Carefully maneuvering his way down Black, Shiro began walking up the canyon.

The treck was slow and painful, every step made him want to scream. But he couldn't stop. He had to reach Keith. He needed to know he was safe.

/Shiro—re you there? —rio—Answer me!/ a familiar voice broke through the pain, making him focus.

"Keith?" he asked quietly. "I'm here…Keith?"

Pain once again erupted through his body as the dark stain on his suit slowly continued to spread. At this rate, he'd bleed out before the poison killed him. Leaning against the rock wall, Shiro slid down into a sit, gasping for air.

His lungs, breathing was starting to hurt. Did he break a rib? Hopefully it didn't puncture anything important; Keith didn't deserve to lose anymore family.

/Shiro?!/

"Keith," he called again, putting more effort into making his voice louder, despite how much it hurt, "Keith, I'm here. I'm alright."

He heard a relieved laugh on the other end of the line over the sound of a running engine, was Keith using Red's speeder? Maybe she wasn't as damaged as he throught.

/Good. Glad to hear it. How are you doing?/

"It takes more than a glowing alien wound and a fall from the upper atmosphere, crashing into a hard pan surface at what I'm guessing is twenty-five meters per second squared to get rid of me," he huffed. "How are you?"

The was a grunt, and the sound of speeds changing. /Not good, scans from Red indicated that this is real nasty territory and Red's busted up pretty bad. You've landed near the entrance of a nest full of what're essentially living demons. You should stay in Black—wait…/ Keith trailed off as Shiro's words finally caught up with him, /what wound?/

"It's nothing," Shiro lied through his teeth, grimacing at the still fresh image of the witch's claws digging in and ripping through his side, tearing his flesh and making his body explode in absolute hellish pain. "What animals were you talking about?"

/Just stay in Black! I'm almost there!/ Keith exclaimed sounding very panicked now.

That made Shiro furrow his eyebrows; in all the time Shiro had known the younger man, Keith had never, _ever _panicked. Not even when Commander Iverson would threaten to send him back to the home, not when Griffin had locked Keith in the freezer, not when Keith's map and other vital supplies went missing for the survival mission in the desert all Cadets were required to do on their own during their first year.

He hadn't even freaked out when Shiro told him about his disease, he just accepted it as a painful fact. Shiro was surprised, but grateful Keith could handle those situations better than most adults, so whatever made Keith panic could not be good.

Just what on Earth was it?

Shiro's answer, came in the form of low growls.

Grunting quietly, he got onto his belly and crawled to the edge of the legde he managed to climb to. What was down there, made him freeze in horror.

_Flashback_

_Shiro shifted his stance gazing warily around the arena for his upcoming opponent. According to what he heard from the other prisoners when he and Jaz did see them in the waiting area or the training room whenever they were released from their shared cell was that a Tournament of the Dark was going to start soon. _

_From what they gathered it was a nasty event the Galra hosted one every few cycles due to a certain population of…monsters growing too high in number. Apparently, they only kept four of these things around for a rare event known as the Trial of the Hive, a series of battles against ever-stronger opponents, if the gladiator won the Trial, the prize was their freedom._

_No one had ever made it past the first opponent._

_That first opponent was apparently the creature he was about to fight to kickstart Tournament. And since he was the Champion, he was fighting alone._

_Shiro's new arm flared with power as he nervously looked around. Normally he and his opponent would enter the arena at the same time, and if he was lucky, it was someone he could talk into surrendering before things got too bloody and either one of them was seriously injured. _

_But now…it was just him, alone in the arena as the crowd remained uncharacteristically silent. Normally they'd be cheering so loud it physically hurt, currently the crowd was so quiet the only thing heard was quiet whispers, Shiro's ragged breathing and quite possibly his ever-increasing heart-rate._

_That silence was broken by the sound of the door at the other end of the arena creaking open slowly, and Shiro's hair stood on end as he felt the change in atmosphere as even the hushed whispers vanished. _

_Whatever it was he was about to face, one thing was clear, no one wanted to be unfortunate enough to get its attention, sitting in the crowd or not._

_Rushing behind the nearest post like he did with his first battle against Myzax, he slowly peered around as it fully opened and a piercing scream that made his blood run cold came from the dark doorway. _

_A pale form ran out, giving another of those damned cries, before it came to a stop, giving a low growl as it slowly began prowling towards the arena center as the door closed behind it._

_One thing Shiro first noticed about the creature, was the strange fact that it appeared to have no face, but it's maw—filled with sharp, dagger-like teeth—resembled that of a skull. Another thing he found disturbing was the color, white. _

_White normally represented purity, and life, and just anything good in general…but this thing…it was a physical embodiment of death, plain and simple._

_What he'd give to have Jaz by his side, his combat partner could easily kill this thing. However, she'd been taken by the witch again a few days ago. She had yet to come back._

_Hiding behind the post again he took a few slow breaths, trying to control his breathing. Now was not the time to panic, if he panicked then he'd lose focus and die. And Shiro refused to die in this Kami-sama forsaken arena!_

_Taking another slow breath, he slowly peered around the pillar. The beast was still slowly walking around the arena center, hissing and growling lowly as its faceless head slowly swung side-to-side as if observing its surroundings._

_"Alright, just because it looked like it didn't have a face didn't mean it can't see," he murmured quietly. "Smell might not be so great since it hasn't found me yet…or it's confused by all the other scents. And considering no one's making any noises I'd bet this thing has amazing hearing." _

_Shiro's gaze wondered away from its head to observe the rest of it. The white skeleton-thing was about his height, possibly a bit shorter. It seemed to move in a slow, hunched over position, but considering the many different shades of blood still covering the white armor-like plates, he didn't want to underestimate this thing's speed or strength._

_That's probably what got those other gladiators killed._

_Then there were the claws: three, very long, disproportionaly so. Without a doubt they'd tear him to ribbons._

_If it was an option, Shiro would've preferred to use some sort of distance attack, but no, he just had his new arm._

_He'd probably have to come at it from behind very fast and very quietly, otherwise he'd be killed._

_Seems Kami-sama was looking out for him, because in that moment a child gave a cry that got the creature's attention. Seeing it was turning its back to him, Shiro activated his arm and sprinted at the skeleton-creature and the crowd started cheering as the fight began._

_Jumping in the air, Shiro swung his arm down just as it turned to look at him and successfully buried it into the thing's right shoulder._

_It screamed, but unlike any of his regular opponents where'd they'd simply attempt to shove him away, it lunged at him, completely ignoring the glowing hand burning its way through its arm. The spare arm claws down his left side from his ribs to his hip, the claws effortlessly tearing through his clothes and flesh, making him scream and pull his Galra-arm out before punching it away._

_The skeleton-creature skipped a few times, before it rolled to its feet, green blood spilling from the gaping wound Shiro had inflicted. Releasing another terrifying scream, the thing began sprinting at him again, forcing Shiro to roll out of the way as it blindly swung its claws at him with both arms._

_Whatever it was, this thing had to be one of those Druid beasts he'd heard about. It seemed like it couldn't even register pain._

_He held back a cry as a claw tore along the bridge of his nose and along his side. Shiro couldn't afford the luxury of focusing in the pain, not with this thing still kicking. _

_Whirling around, he ducked under another set of claws and buried his glowing arm wrist-deep in the creature's throat. Green blood spurt out covering the human-gladiator as he yanked his arm out and scrambled back as it kept hobbling towards him._

_Shiro's wounded leg gave out, when did it even get wounded? Nonetheless, it forced him to his knees, watching in horror as it continued to hobble after him. Just how was it still alive?! It had to die at some point, right?!_

_Thankfully, it didn't get far before it finally collapsed. Its head was still turned towards him releasing shrill shrieks as the uninjured arm's claws opened and closed while the limb reached out towards him._

_After a few terrifying seconds, the arm dropped as it finally died and the guards entered the arena as the sound of cheering came back into focus, Shiro never thought he'd be relieved to have that, but it was a reassurance that he was still alive after that terrifying ordeal. _

_And to think that thing was only the first opponent in the Trial of the Hive._

Shiro watched with wide eyes as the ten white monsters slowly moved around the Black Lion; there was no way he could get to it now. Not without being spotted by them…he barely survived one the last time.

"On second thought, you better hurry Keith," Shiro whispered crawling back and getting into a crouch.

He had to find a place to hide, now.

-.-

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole's taking us," Coran drawled, before scoffing and flipping his hair. "Ugh, this is so boring."

"Coran please! Jaz and I do not need any of your attitude right now!" Allura scolded as she and the now human Jaz typed quickly on the monitors trying to find a way out.

"You don't understand me at all! You have no idea what I'm going through!" Coran huffed, crossing his arms and tilitng his chin in the air. "I'll be in my control area!"

Jaz's pale freckled skin slowly turned red as she brushed some of her brilliant red hair out of the way. "Coran! Stop being a big baby and help us find a way out of this!" she chided. "Allura, do you have anything?"

"I can't enter any coordinates…"

"I'm sensing a but?" Jaz perked up.

"But, the Castle will automatically lock onto the lions' whereabouts if we can locate them!" Allura realized.

"Let's do this!" Jaz cheered summoning the map.

Allura closed her eyes and concentrated. "It's not working! I'm unable to hone of their location!"

The two women looked to each other as they tried to formulate another plan and jumped as loud operatic music began blasting throughout the bridge.

"CORAN! TURN THAT INFERNAL RACKET DOWN THIS INSTANT! OUR LIVES ARE AT STAKE!" Jaz shouted.

"I can only express myself through music!" he snapped back turning it up louder.

"CORAN!" Allura exploded, "IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO JAZ AND TURN THAT DOWN, I SWEAR I WILL TURN THIS CASTLE AROUND AND—!"

"And what?" he sneered. "We're just going to run into this void that's coming up here! I HATE EVERYBODY!"

-.-

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor to see where this wormhole is taking us," the ten-year-old said cheerily, "whatever that means."

"We've tried everything and nothing's worked!" Allura exclaimed. "A few more trips down this wormhole and you're going to disappear disappear."

"We really need to find a way out," Jaz said sitting up from where she fell on the floor. "I really hate this, I mean look! I'm a mermaid!"

"Just blast your way out! Duh!" Coran said running around the bridge making plane noises.

"I suppose it's worth a try," Allura surrendered, "the Castle might have enough firepower to destroy the tunnel."

"Yeah! And it'll go ker-plooey!"

"This seems like a terrible plan! What if it ricochets?"

"It's the only thing we haven't tried," Allura said charging the cannon; firing they all yelped as the shots came back at them. "It's not working! It's like we're shooting at ourselves!"

"That's exactly what I was trying to warn you about!"

Coran blew a raspberry at the currently mermaid Awoken, "Where's Voltron?"

-.-

"What happened?" Keith demanded as he picked up speed, driving towards Shiro's location.

/There's a bunch of these creatures. They—they came out of nowhere/ Shiro gulped, /Keith…I fought just one of these beasts in the pits and I barely made it out…/

"Just hold on," he called.

_"Geyser field, dead ahead."_

Driving onto the field, Keith's sparrow quickly flew ahead of the waterspouts that erupted in their wake. "Qogralbar!" he cursed, slamming on the brakes and skidding to a stop just before going over the cliff.

/Keith?! Are you ok?! What happened?/ Shiro called.

"Uh…well, it's a minor delay, but I'll be there soon," he reassured. "How are you?"

/I'm fine, but I'm trapped in a small cave/ he breathed shakily, /and those things are blocking my way out/

"If you're dealing with what I think you are just stay quiet and stay downwind. These things have a terrible sight, but their hearing is incredible, and their smell is crazy good."

/Thanks for the warning/ Shiro said even quieter then before.

"Now, I just need to…figure this out," Keith sighed looking over the canyon and muting his side of the comm to Shiro. "Yorak, you see any way around?"

_"No, but…"_

"But what?"

_"I think I found a shortcut, through which we could reach Shiro faster?"_

"Great. Where is it?"

_"It's down there. In the Hive nest."_

"You're kidding."

_"No."_

"Patience yields focus," Keith said tapping his comm, unmuting it, he had to at least warn Shiro of what he was about to pull.

The was a small chuckle on the other end of the line, /That really stuck with you didn't it?/

"Why wouldn't it?" Keith smiled. "If it wasn't for you, my life would've been a lot different."

/Yeah. You wouldn't have crashed a flying lion on an alien planet and be stuck with little hope of rescue/ Shiro tiredly replied, /You're welcome/

"Eh, don't beat yourself up," Keith drawled. "I would've gotten myself in this situation some other way."

Shiro laughed slightly before coughing.

"Stay with me Shiro. I need you to hold on longer. Look, I think I found a shortcut, but it's underground. I'm probably gonna be out of reach for a little bit."

/Keith. You said yourself that I'm at the entrance of one of these nests. What if that's an entrance?/ Shiro questioned sounding worried.

"That's what I'm counting on. From what I managed to get from Red, these things make some pretty big nests. It'll be faster for me to use the pre-existing tunnels," he stated before a smirk crept onto his face. "Besides, judging by the dead ones, something's already been clearing my way."

The was silence on the other end for a few moments, /If you feel like you're in any danger, get the hell out and take the long way. That's an order/

"Yes sir. See ya on the other side," Keith said turning off the comms. "Mask."

_"Copy,"_ Yorak replied and Paladin armor changed to Guardian.

"Let's do this."

Putting his sparrow away, Keith jumped into the canyon, about halfway down, he activated his jetpack to slow his descent, turning it off and on till he reached the bottom. Switching his bayard out for one of his guns, Keith followed the scanner towards the entrance, quickly shooting down the few Thralls and Acolytes guarding it.

Walking inside, Keith kept close to the walls, eying his scanner as he waited for the warning systems to flash as he moved through the halls.

_"Is it just me, or does this nest seem empty?"_

"We're sticking to the edges of the nest, that's probably why. Remember? The deeper we go the more Hive there are," he replied crouching down behind a corner as he got red.

Peering around, he cursed explicitly, a Shrieker. And where there were Shriekers, there were always Thralls nearby. Taking a breath, Keith stepped into the infernal eye's line of sight, watching as the armor plates furled away from the eye, that focused on him quickly and began firing. Putting his light shield up, Keith crouched down and fired, using it for cover before he took too many hits.

Moving around and firing again, he watched as it exploded and the screams came.

"Usually they're earlier than this," Keith muttered pulling out a sword watching as the thralls emerged from the darkness ahead.

_"At least they still sprint in a nice straight line for us."_

"True," Keith grunted stabbing the blade through two before swinging it out to slice through the one jumping above them. Spinning out of the way, he winced as the claws got his side and ripped through a small gap in the armor before stabbing it in the head. Looking around, Keith was relieved to find that the scanners were clear, for now anyways.

Placing a hand on his side, he found the wound already fading. "And I just got this armor fixed too."

Switching back to a gun, Keith made his way deeped into the nest. Making a right at a fork, he felt the slope change from down to up.

Before long, the red was back. Creeping up behind a spire, Keith watched as he saw the entrance. There was two Knights armed with guns, a Wizard, about nine Acolytes, and Lord knew how many qogralbar're Thralls.

_"Looks like the whole nest might be up here."_

"Shiro's crash landing must've gotten their attention," Keith whispered.

In the small cave, Shiro slowly crawled to the entrance, making sure to stick close to the shadows as he peered outside. The creatures weren't leaving, if anything, they were getting closer, slowly following the scent of his blood till they found him.

Looking past Black, he could see where they came from; a massive cave entrance sat a ways behind and he could only stare at the other beasts guarding in. Slightly larger ones carrying blasters, the two hulking monsters that practically shook the ground as they walked, and the _glowing, flying druid_ above them.

Then, something else shot out of the cave.

Shiro stared at the armored humanoid in shcok. Was he nuts? Who would…?

One of the big ones turned towards him and the newcomer slid under a swing, rolling to their feet and decapitated it in one stroke. The pack began turning and Shiro could almost watch in slow motion as the other beast dropped dead. The druid turned and began firing at them and Shiro's eyes widened as a shield made of pure energy erupted in front of him, the druid's blasts harmlessly bouncing off. The armored figure crouched behind the glowing shield for a moment, before sprinting out, right towards the druid.

Whoever this guy was, he was completely unafraid of the beasts, the same beasts that gave Shiro nightmares.

The armored being leapt up at the flying beast, punching it in the face, before he grabbed a pistol off his hip and shot up under its jaw before kicking the falling body away and going after the rest.

Shiro jumped as his view was blocked and he came face to face with one of the white ones as it crouched down and stared at him. The Black Paladin scrambled back with a scream, watching as two others joined it and they began digging, their claws occasionally trying to swipe at him.

Activating his arm, Shiro rushed forwards and used it to cut off the arms as the creatures tried reaching for him again. Shreiking, they stumbled back allowing him to get out of the cave and slice his hand through the weaker heads, grimacing as the blood almost seemed to burn as it came into contact with this injury.

Fumbling for his footing, Shiro clutched his side as another wave of angony rippled over him. Several of the white monsters charged and he scrambled away, losing his footing and rolling down the cliff, dropping his helmet in the process. Grunting in even more pain than he had been in before, Shiro got to his feet and ran as he watched the first one jump down after him.

Keith raced past Black, wincing as he felt a few blaster shots hit his back, looking down the slope Shiro had fallen, he could see that Shiro was trying to outrun the group of Thralls, but they were swiftly gaining ground.

Summoning his sparrow, Keith flew off the cliff speeding towards his brother.

Shiro dodged out of the way as another of the skeletons jumped at him, slamming its head into the rocks, before having to duck as another materialized to his left, the massive claws barely missing cutting him to ribbons. He could barely keep up with these things, they were fast, insanely fast, and Shiro was quickly starting to run on fumes. Sooner or later, one of them would land a hit, then it would be all over.

Jumping out of the third one's way, Shiro grunted as the fourth jumped on his back, making him grab it and toss the creature over his shoulder, slamming it to the ground. It seemed stunned for a split second before one of its claws tore through the leg armor like it was paper, forcing him down to one knee as they began to circle him like sharks.

It was over.

Shiro lost.

Actiavting his arm again, Shiro grit his teeth, no, he wasn't going to die here. Not without a fight. He could at least take a few with him. Getting up and turning to the closest one, Shiro was greeted by a rush of air and the impact dust and the armored being stood on top of one of the skeleton creatures, green blood oozing out from under it.

The monsters' attention turned away from him and they all shrieked at the newcomer. The man charged, his fist slamming into one of their heads. Shiro could only stare as the white armor gave way like putty under the being's fist.

That certainly explained why he wasn't scared.

Pulling out a long red and black sword, the man cut through the creatures quickly, his long blade tearing through sometimes multiple at once. Stabbing the last one, Shiro stiffened as the masked head turned to him.

In all the chaos, he never considered if he should fear for his own life. This guy just took out a horde of demon creatures _single handedly_. Even without his injuries Shiro didn't like his odds.

The man strapped the sword to his back and calmly crouched next to him. "Issi jeme paktot [Are you alright]?"

Shiro bit his lip, he had no idea what this guy just said.

There was a sigh and the man spoke again, this time in a different language, "Ken uniy ynporntenp thun [Can you understand this]?"

Shiro shook his head.

The next lanague was a surprise. "Hohu arbhhohsust'h nhohu [How about now]?" he asked in Eliksni.

Shiro, too surprised to speak, merely nodded. How did this guy know Eliksni? They couldn't be Matt or Sam, the voice was altered by the helmet, but they'd be more than happy to see him.

"Gohohd'h. Ae'rfef yrohsus ohk'h [Good. Are you ok]?"

Shiro grimaced reregistering the wound on his side, all the adrenaline made him forget about it. The armored man noticed it with a nod, moving to his wounded side and inspecting the injury.

"Lohohk'hhs lhgygk'hfef ar Hgygvhfef Wgygzhare'rd'h ghoht'h yrar [Looks like a Hive Wizard got ya]," the man commented.

Shiro furrowed his brows, is that…is that what those beasts were called? Hive? It would make sense, the freedom matches were called the Trial of the _Hive_.

"Hohlhd'h hst'hgyglhlh, t'hhgyghs mharyr hsuse'rt'h [Hold still, this may hurt]."

Yanking himself from his thoughts, Shiro opened his mouth to protests as the man rested his hands on the wound. His words were cut off as pain erupted in his side. He could feel it, two different energies coiling against one another, trying to eradricate each other.

The pain slowly began to ebb, and Shiro opened his eyes, glancing down. The man's hands were glowing, just like Allura and Jaz when they did magic. He could see glowing violet energy being forced out by a orange light, travelling up onto the man and dissappating harmlessly.

The man pulled back, resting his hands on his knees with a tired huff. "Ziry iksos issare iā while pār nyke've gaomagon ōños hae bona," he muttered in the first strange language again.

But, this time, it struck a familiar chord with Shiro. He could swear he'd heard this language before.

"I d'hgygd'h uhart'h I c'hhohsuslhd'h. Phyrhsgygc'hharlh uohsusnhd'hhs are'rfef nhoht'h mhyr fefzp'hfefe'rt'hgyghsfef, bhhsust'h yrohsus uohnh't'h harvhfef t'hoh uohe're'ryr arbhhohsust'h Dare'rk'hnhfefhshs hslhohulhyr k'hgyglhlhgygnhgh yrohsus [I did what I could. Physical wounds are not my expertise, but you won't have to worry about Darkness slowly killing you]."

Darkness? What was that?

Before he could ask, the man stood up, grabbing a blaster. "Yohsuse'r fhe'rgygfefnhd'h ugyglhlh bhhfef hfefe'rfef hsohohnh. Thfef ohnhfef gygnh e'rfefd'h [Your friend will be here soon. The one in red]."

With those parting words, the man ran back up towards the cave, disappearing inside.

Just like he said, Keith emerged less than a minute later. His armor was scuffed up, but overall he looked fine.

-.-

"Let's check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitors to see where this wormhole goes!" the toddler Coran said before grabbing his stomach. "I hungry."

Seeing the tiny child start throwing a tantrum, both Altean women rushed forwards. "No! No Coran! You're going to damage the Castle and everything will stop!"

"Wait…" Jaz said as they looked at each other.

Allura shoved Coran into Jaz's hands and raced for the controls as Coran pulled the other woman's hair. "NO! MINE!" he exclaimed biting her.

"BAD CORAN!" Jaz shrieked yanking him off her arm.

"I shut down the power, but we're still moving towards the void," Allura worried.

"My control panel!" Coran cried.

"We probably haven't stopped because there isn't enough friction, can we drive the Castle in reverse?" Jaz questioned before yelping as Coran yanked on her ear.

-.-

Jaz and Allura looked at each other as they started the loop again, this time the Awoken woman standing as a Galran with a crying Altean baby in her arms. "I know, who what's to check the Rift Exit Positioning Monitor?" Jaz cooed.

"You do, that's who," Allura said as Coran made a whimper. "We must find a way out of this time loop before all that's left of him is his moustache."

"Seriously, did he have that since he was this little?"

Coran spat out the pacifier, hitting Jaz in the side of the head. "Poopies."

"That's all you," Jaz said shoving Coran into Allura's arms.

"Now wait a tick!" Allura protested holding him away.

"We don't have time to argue; we need to figure out what we're going to do?" Jaz asked rubbing Coran's head, "If we hit that void again Coran will cease to exist."

"I don't know, I'm out of ideas," the Princess despondently answered, holding Coran close. "I'm so sorry Coran. You were like a second father to me."

The monitors activated, showing a set of coordinates. "Talk about luck!" Jaz said typing on the monitor.

Opening the wormhole, they shot out into a trash nebula. "We made it!" Allura cheered before noticing the heavy weight in her arms.

Coran woke himself up with a snore, looking at Allura and Jaz. "Mom? Auntie?"

Allura promptly dropped him and they both crossed their arms before smiling as they saw Pidge appeared. "Thanks for that Pidge, you saved us. We were stuck in a time loop," Allura praised.

"I kept changing species!"

"How'd you get us out?!"

**"I made a communications link that sends out the Green Lion's energy. It's like the energy that guided the Blue Lion home."**

"Pidge you're a genius!" Coran praised and she crossed her arms looking smug.

"I know, but it wasn't just me. They helped," she said pointing to the adorable fluff-balls floating behind her.

"AWWW! THEY'RE SO CUTE! WE'RE KEEPING THEM!" Jaz squealed.

"How many?"

"ALL!"

Allura and Coran backed away from the overly excited Awoken woman. "How about we go retrieve the rest of the Paladins?"

-.-

"Thanks for coming to save me," Shiro said as Keith started a small fire.

"You'd have done the same for me," he shrugged, leaning back against the rock they were using. "How's your wound?"

"My wound's great. It's better than it was before," he chuckled weakly before breaking into a coughing fit.

"Hang in there. When Allura and Coran find us, they'll fix you right up," Keith stated.

"Keith?"

"Yeah?"

"Did…did you see a man run through? A man in armor?"

The younger man raised a brow looking confused. "No. Why?"

"Before you arrived, those…things were about to kill me. This guy came out of nowhere. He killed them all like it was nothing. He's the reason the wound isn't glowing."

"Wait, you wound was glowing?"

"Druids. Whatever he did, it worked."

"Guess we're fortunate that that dude was here."

"Keith," Shiro breathed, "if…if I don't make it out of here, I want you to lead Voltron."

Keith froze, there was no way he'd let Shiro die on this planet. "Don't talk like that. You'll be fine, you're gonna make it," he stated as the sky light blue for a moment, and Keith physically felt the stress of Shiro possibly dying on this planet leave him as he saw the Castle flying above. "My point's proven."


	15. Ulaz

Chapter 15

**A/N: once again people, I just own the story and OCs. Sorry for apparently posted the wrong chapter, thanks for letting me know Safire19, my computer must've glitched. College WiFi sucks.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashback or ghost telepathy_**

"Is he ok?" Hunk asked grimacing at Shiro's pained grunts from within the healing pod.

"Sometimes the healing process can cause involuntary brainwave reactions," Allura supplied from where she stood working with Coran.

"You sure?" Jaz asked standing straight from where she'd been leaning against the wall. "That dark magic could still be affecting him."

"I thought you pulled it all out?" Lance asked.

"I pulled out what was left, but there still could be some I missed. It might've dissolved into his system by the time I got to him."

"He looks like he's having a bad dream," Hunk remarked looking at their leader again.

Keith raised an eyebrow. "He just got blasted by a space witch and was nearly mauled by living demons. What dream could be worse than that?"

_Shiro struggled against the bonds restraining him, shouting as two guards restrained Jaz to a table across from him. "Leave her alone!"_

_"Unfortunately, I need both of you for this to work," the masked medic sneered handing the technicians syringes. "Give them this."_

_Shiro struggled more as one of the guards approached him with the needle, injecting something into his arm. "You took my hand, what more do you want from us?" _

_The masked doctor looked down at him coldly before swatting the technician's hand away as Shiro's world slowly began to blur and grow dark. "Enough! I want them awake enough to feel this." _

_Shiro could make out the forms of the guards stepping back before a darker form attacked them. Slamming them into the wall, trying to focus his vision, Shiro thought he saw the medic walking towards his table. But…that was impossible. No Galra would betray their own to rescue them._

_Would they?_

_"Listen to me, we don't have much time," he said and Shiro felt more than saw something being pressed into the node in his wrist. _

_Pain shot across his face and Shiro's vision sharpened, the clear form of the doctor glaring at him coming into focus. _

_"Wake up!" he snapped undoing the bonds holding him down before he rushed over to Jaz's table, releasing her restriants. She collapsed to the ground, still too drugged up to support her own weight. The Galran growled before grabbing a needle and injecting her with something. "That should help you focus for the time being. Now get up! Both of you!"_

_"Why…why are you doing this?" Jaz grunted, shakily getting to her feet._

_"Zarkon has located the Blue Lion in the Sol System, on your planet Earth. You two must retrieve it before he does."_

_"You're helping us?" Shiro gasped as he got up. The world spun for a moment, forcing him to support himself on the wall as his vision went dark for a moment._

_"I've planted a bomb to cover your escape, but you two must reach the escape pod I've programmed now."_

_"Shiro!" Jaz hissed grabbing his shoulder. "Dreh hi morah mu ov rok [Do you think we can trust him]?"_

_"Dreh hi lost aan miiraad [Do you have a choice]?" the Galran stated looking at them. "Unlike many in the empire I am fluent in Awoken."_

_"Who are you?" Shiro questioned._

_"I'm am Ulaz, but now come on!" he snapped, dragging both of them to the door, before he peered out into the hall. "Zarkon will know that I released you two, so I must disappear. But if you survive, go to the coordinates in your arm. The Blade of Marmora is with you both."_

_"Why are you helping us?" Jaz questioned, looking suspicious. Not that Shiro could blame her, this was almost too good to be true._

_"As fighters and leaders, you two give others hope. Now hurry, Sol needs you. We all do," he said, departing with that cryptic message._

_"He could've at least given us directions to the pod," Jaz hissed darting out into the hall ahead of Shiro._

_"Wait!" he snapped, grabbing her and yanking her against the wall. Tapping it, he heard the familiar footfalls of the patrols come into sync as they rounded the corner, going on their merry way without noticing them. "We need to be cautious, Jaz."_

_"We don't know how long we have before that bomb goes off, I'd rather be further than closer."_

_Shiro nodded in agreement; she had a point. "Let's move, we don't have long before the next patrol comes."_

_Rushing through the halls, they ducked behind a corner as another patrol passed by. Shiro peered around the corner to make sure they weren't looking back and to check if another patrol was on its way. Seeing they were clear, he stepped out and and tripped over the cart carrying containers of something. _

_"Come on!" Jaz hissed, jumping out and yanking him to his feet as the guards turned around. "Get to the pod!"_

_"I'm not leaving you!"_

_"You aren't!" she stated holding her hands forwards and blasting them to smithereens. Whipping around, she sprinted towards him. "Think that's it?"_

_Shiro looked where she motioned further down the hall and saw a set of flashing doors opening. "I sure hope so."_

_Turning into the doorway, Shiro heard an explosion and there was pain on the side of his head as he and Jaz were thrust into the wall and everything went black._

Shiro opened his eyes to see a pale blue of the wall of the Altean healing pods, making him sigh in relief, as he saw the series of familiar faces looking back at him through the pod. It was only a dream.

Or…maybe not.

The door opened and he slumped out, wincing as Keith caught him. His side was still sore, but at least the pain was gone. "Good to have you back Shiro, you had us worried for a while," Jaz smiled clapping him on the back.

"Good to be back," he huffed, supporting himself against Keith as his bearings slowly came back to him. at least he wasn't a limp noodle as Jaz had been afterwards.

Her smile faded into a concerned frown as her glowing eyes looked over him for a moment. "What's on your mind?"

"I…I think I remembered how we escaped the Galra."

-.-

"I'm not finding any coordinates in here," Pidge said as she looked over the data she was scanning onto her laptop from the node in his arm. "Are you sure this wasn't a dream?"

"I'm positive. Someone helped us escape," Shiro affirmed and out of the corner of his eye he could see Jaz nod her head.

"That's what I got too from the bits and pieces I remember, I just chalked it up to being a hallucination or just misremembering."

"And he was Galra?" Allura questioned.

"Yes."

Jaz put her hands on her hips as she sized up the princess. "Is that really a shock?"

Allura scoffed. "You cannot trust a Galra."

"So you're telling me, you blame an _entire race_ for the actions of _one man_?" Jaz said narrowing her eyes.

"Any Galra in rebellion has had ten thousand years to stop him. If they really wanted to they would have by now," Allura snarled. "All the Galra are now is a horde of monsters."

"Your father must've trusted them once," Shiro said. "Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, wasn't he?"

"That was a long time ago," she stated looking away.

"Wait, what?"

"Didn't you see how he stole the Black Lion from right under Shiro?" Keith said crossing his arms glaring at Allura accusingly. "Or all that stuff he could do with the Black bayard, Shiro's bayard. The one you said was lost with the original Paladin?"

"Why didn't you just tell us the truth about Zarkon?"

Allura looked down, refusing to meet their eyes. "I wanted to protect you from the dark history of the Paladins, so that you would have a chance to bond with your lions on your own. You are the Black Paladin now, not Zarkon."

"The Black Lion might have a different take on the matter," Shiro frowned.

"It doesn't matter, I will never let a Galra fly one of the lions again."

Jaz rolled her eyes. "As if you can control what the lions decide. Like you said, the lions choose their Paladins."

"I think I found it," Pidge said breaking the tense slience that developed in the wake of Jaz's statement. "There's some repeating numbers in all this Galra code. Let me extract it…" she trailed off as the results appeared on the monitor above. "They are coordinates. They lead here: the Thaldycon System."

"Then that's where we're headed," Shiro stated.

"Shiro, are you sure we can trust this?" Keith questioned, making Shiro turn to him in surprise. He wasn't expecting Keith to be the one to protest, however, he didn't look suspiscious, just concerned. "I mean, after all the Galra have done to you—they captured you, they took your arm. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but what if it's a trap?"

"It's worth the risk," he said. "Someone helped us escape. If we can get some allies in our fight against Zarkon, especially ones from his own side. We can find a way to take him down."

"We can check the location," Allura said, "but I do not like this."

"No one's asking for your opinion," Jaz said coldly. "Shiro's right we need allies. And if they prove to be enemies at least we can get rid of a base or weapon in the process."

"The Galra are not to be trusted."

"Are you sure you're not basing that on your own prejudices against them?" Jaz questioned crossing her arms. "Statistically speaking there has to be Galrans that don't agree with Zarkon's rule."

"They've had ten thousand years to remove him from power in case you forgot that Jaz," Allura snarled, "the Galra are not to be relied upon."

-.-

The Castle wormholed into a field of large crystal-like asteroids. "Whelp, this is it. There's no sign of any activity at all, living or otherwise," Coran stated.

"Can we get in there?" Shiro asked motioning to the crystal field. "Take a closer look?"

"I don't want ot bring the Castle any closer," Coran replied. "Those Xanthorium clusters contain highly unstable nitrate salts; even bumping one of them them can blow us straight to Wazblay."

"You sure?" Jaz asked narrowing her eyes. "Seems like you're more eager to leave rather than check."

"These are the coordinates Number Six gave me."

"Hey! My decryption's solid!" Pidge snapped.

"There must be something we're missing," Shiro sighed tapping his chin in thought. There was no way it was just a dream, they found the coordinates and he and Jaz remembered the same details—though Jaz was a little more fuzzy on them—there had to be something they weren't seeing.

"We should get out of here," Allura said.

"Why? Scared we're right and that you're wrong about the Galra?" Jaz taunted.

"We've checked it out, now it's time to move on."

Jaz scoffed, "Please, you haven't checked out anything. Have you used advanced scanners to check for cloaking? Or any distortions in the area?"

"Good idea!" Pidge grinned as she and Hunk started typing. "We'll run those now, see what we get."

Shiro nodded, "I know there's something here Allura, we just need patience."

-.-

Shiro sat back in his chair rubbing his eyes from where he was staring at the monitor. There had to be something, those coordinates wouldn't be in his arm for no reason, and if it was a trap it would've been sprung by now.

Looking around the room he spotted Jaz helping Pidge and Hunk run the scans, offering different types of cloaking to check for. Though, every now and then he'd see her toss an accusing glare at Allura. He'd have to talk to her later to see what was rubbing her the wrong way, the last thing they needed was for the Altean Princess and the next Captain of the Awoken Royal Guard at odds with each other, especially if they were confined in the same space for long periods of time.

Coran was running scans of his own, probably checking diagnostics over the ship or running more scans of the area to check for threats.

Allura hadn't moved from her spot at the controls, it looked like she was silently debating on just wormholing anyways despite their agreement to check the area out.

Lance was playing a video game, it looked like that ancient videogame from the days before VR-MMOs called _Space Invaders_. How'd he even download it into the Castle? Or was that the Altean version, he'd have to ask later.

Keith seemed to be running a scan of his own, muttering to himself in another language as he occasionally shifted in his seat. He'd seemed unable to stay still long since the incident after the corrupted wormhole. Shiro made a note to check if he was alright, he knew that those things they fought could seriously put someone on edge. After facing that one in the arena he'd been unable to sit still till Jaz personally knocked his lights out.

After several hours, something finally happened, he just wasn't expecting it to be an intruder alert.

"There's an intruder in the Castle!" Coran called.

"How could someone just sneak aboard the ship?" Lance asked.

"I'll explain that to you later," Jaz grumbled.

"I knew we shouldn't have come here!" Allura growled pulling up the camera feeds.

"No, you just didn't want to come here because of your prejudices against the Galra!"

"He's on Level Five," Allura said ignoring Jaz.

"Everyone suit up," Shiro ordered getting up and they all got changed into their armor, racing down to where Allura said he was. "We'll divide and conquer, let everyone else know when you find them."

They eached raced through the halls, trying to find out where their uninvited guest was.

Turning a corner, Lance balked and aimed his gun at the tall, dark figure standing ahead of him. "I got him," Lance called. "Hold it right there!"

/Stay on him, we're on our way!/ Shiro responded as they all locked on Lance's location.

The dark form turned and began sprinting at him. Well, he warned him, Lance shrugged firing he weapon.

And the guy dodged his shots like a ninja.

**"Careful, he's faster than an angry Klanmüirl!"**

He was in front of Lance before he even realized it, swipe his gun aside, spinning him around and leaping over the Blue Paladin in a matter of seconds.

**"But he can jump like an angry Globinheffer!"**

"Coran you aren't helping!" Lance remarked as he continued firing at the retreating ninja.

**"Oh, someone's as mad as a wet Chüper. Coming your way Number Six!"**

Pidge stopped holding up her bayard as she looked around, where was he going to come from? She heard the blaster fire coming from this direction a minute ago.

As if in answer, a dark form shot out from around the corner. Pidge activated the taser and dived at him; and he just flipped over her. Rolling to her feet, she switched to the grapple and fired, making the intruder jump and grab onto the other end.

"I got him!" she grinned. Now, how did she get the taser to work on this?

There was a sharp tug on the rope and Katie felt her feet slide a few inches forwards.

"Oh no."

He began sprinting, dragging her behind him like a fish on a hook.

"I don't got him!"

**"He's dragging Pidge away!"**

Katie managed to pull her legs in front of her, now if only she could get a grip on the ground to stop him. "Come back here!" she snapped starting to press her feet down.

Hearing something behind him, Hunk whipped around and started firing.

"HUNK!" she screamed dropping down as she was dragged under the barrage of the cannon.

"Oh. SORRY!"

**"Oh, Hunk failed the team everybody."**

"HEY!"

**"Looks like it's all up to Keith."**

"Copy that," he replied pulling out his bayard.

_"Hall to your right. He'll be turning into it soon."_

Nodding, Keith began racing to the corner, better to take him by surprise.

**"Oh. This is exciting. He's got a sword. One young Paladin, versus a seemingly indestructible foe…"**

And there went the element of surprise.

The target whipped around the corner, making Keith duck and slide under the rope before he chased after, jumping over Pidge as she was dragged in front of him. Sprinting ahead, he caught up to the intruder and swung.

**"Swing and a miss!"**

Keith saw a corner up ahead, and he could see the man moving as if he was going to make a turn. Jumping forwards, Keith rolled passed, growling as he missed again.

**"Another swing and a miss!"**

Getting back to his feet, Keith continued sprinting after, this guy had to tire eventually.

**"He can't touch him! He's too fast!"**

Oh, what Keith would give to have Coran shut up for five seconds. Running alongside Pidge he looked at her and she nodded, smirking as she got the same idea. Digging her heels into the ground she grunted as she yanked on the rope, making the target stop as his arm was yanked back.

Seeing his chance, Keith activated the jetpack and bounced off the wall straight for him. Swinging his blade down, he grunted as the clang of metal rang out, and he found himself staring at a sword with a familiar symbol.

_"Keith…?"_

The intruder swung his free arm, knocking the bayard out of his hands and across the hall.

**"He knocked Keith's bayard out of his hands!"**

Keith raised his fists, that didn't matter, he didn't need a weapon to win this. He just had to make sure he didn't kill him. He had questions and one way or another, he would make this guy answer them.

Charging forwards with and undercut, Keith grunted as a body slammed into him, sending him sprawling across the floor with Pidge in his grasp. Springing back to his feet, he rushed at the intruder again. Raising his fist, he watched as the other's arm came to meet, making Keith duck and slide under before attempting to swipe their feet out from under them. He jumped up, trying to land on Keith as he rolled out of the way. Keith rushed at him again, grabbing his arm, and trying to restrain him, before his feet were knocked out from under him and he was sent slamming into Hunk and Lance.

He'd give this guy credit, he was good.

Shiro activated his arm as he stopped a few feet behind the intruder. Their head slowly turned towards him, when they moved quickly, pulling out a weapon. Shiro reacted, lashing out with his arm and they each stopped, holding their weapons at a standstill near each other's throats.

The intruder was the first to back down, pulling the blade away and lowering his hood, as the mask fell away, revealing a tall Galra with lavender fur bearing white markings.

"Ulaz?" Shiro breathed, backing down in relief. It was him. He and Jaz weren't crazy. This was the man who helped them escape.

Allura shouldered Shiro aside and shoved Ulaz up against the wall. "Who are you?!"

"Oh God, it's realy him," Jaz gasped as she slowed to a stop.

"Allura, let him go," Shiro reassured trying to calm down the Princess, "this is him. This is the Galra that freed us."

"You've come."

They all moved the conversation into the lounge, and despite protests, cuffed Ulaz as they made him explain.

"I really don't think this is necessary," Shiro said again looking at the cuffs.

"I will not have some quiznaking Galra soldier on the bridge of my ship!" Allura snarled.

"He saved our lives and this is how you repay him for that?" Jaz hissed.

"He broke into the Castle!"

Jaz raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, "We technically did that when we arrived. In case you forgot: you attacked Lance. And yet I don't see us in cuffs."

"The Blue Lion brought you that's why, it let you into the Castle."

"If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already," Ulaz stated, his ear twitching in annoyance.

"Are your Galra threats supposed to earn my trust?" Allura growled.

"He's merely stating a fact, spies like us are trained that way," Jaz smirked.

"I'm not trying to win your trust, I'm trying to win a war," Ulaz responded to Allura, "and because of Shiro and Jaz, we're closer than we've ever been. Our gamble on both of you payed off better than we could've ever imagined."

"When you released us, you also mentioned that there were others working with you," Shiro recalled.

Ulaz gave a small nod, "Yes, we are called the Blade of Marmora."

"Others? Are they here?" Hunk inquired, sounding nervous.

"Hunk can you try not to act so scared in front of the chained-up prisoner?" Lance chided. "It makes us seem a little lame."

"Not that you need help with that," Jaz teased and Lance turned red.

"I am alone on this base," Ulaz answered frankly.

"What is this base you are talking about? Shiro's coordinates lead us to this wasteland!"

"The base is hidden."

"Ha! Told you so!"

"Now that I know it is Shiro and Jaz who've come, you are welcome to the outpost," he said. "It lies dead ahead."

"Behind all the Xanthorium clusters?"

"No, right in front of it, hidden in a pocket of space-time."

"Coran, are you hearing this?" Allura called.

**"The scans Pidge and Hunk were running have picked up an anomaly, I supposed it could be a cloaked base."**

"And whose idea was it to run those scans Allura?" Jaz smiled putting her arm on her shoulder, her grin widening as the Princess gave a frustrated growl. "So how do we reach your base?"

"Just fly straight for the center of the Xanthorium cluster," he answered. "You will see."

"You thin you're going to get me to destroy my ship just because you say so?" Allura scoffed.

"Allura, there's a lot easier ways to kill us and get the lions," Jaz remarked. "Blowing us up would just damage them. Zarkon wouldn't be happy about that."

Shiro nodded in agreement, but he still gave his friend a warning glare to try and get her to stop getting on Allura's nerves. "We came out here to find answers, are we going to turn back now?"

"You know I trust both of you, but I don't think this feels right," Keith said watching Ulaz with crossed arms.

Lance put his hands on his hips, "You know I hate to agree with Keith, but that's a big fat ditto for me."

"The Galra could've implanted fake memories of the escape in your head," Pidge pointed out.

"Of come on," Hunk said, "that would be so evil—which, of course, they are. But they'd have to come up with a molecular-level storage unit—which, his hand does have. But to be linked up to memory it would need a direct path to his brain, which…yeah."

Jaz leaned towards Hunk, "What about me? I remember that same stuff and I don't have any of that?"

"Uh well…I got nothing," Hunk shrugged.

"Ulaz saved us, without him none of us would be here," Shiro stated.

Allura didn't look happy about it, but she agreed. "Fine," she spat. "Slow and steady Coran. Head for the Xanthorium cluster."

**"Yes Princess. Beginning approach…Impact imminent in five, four, three, two…Well, that's something?"**

"What?"

**"Putting it up on the screens."**

They all looked to the screen and watched as a wormhole-like tunnel appeared.

"Amazing," Pidge gasped in awe, "They're folding space."

"It's like a space taco, or a space calzone, or a scape-time dumpling and we're the soup. Hey is there a cafeteria on this thing?"

_"Incredible," _Yorak commented, _"I've never seen technology this similar to the Vex before. You think I'll get the chance to study it?"_

"Kostilus [perhaps]."

They exited the portal and saw a base floating in front of the cluster. "Welcome to the Blade of Marmora Base Thaldycon," Ulaz said standing up. "Now if you'll free me, I can send a message to my leadership. They need to know I've made contact with Voltron."

"Go with him, and keep an eye on him," Allura hissed. "I'm staying here."

"Oh! Can we go too!?" Hunk asked.

"I wanna see how they make the space pocket!" Pidge pleaded.

"You guys go ahead, I'll stay behind to protect the princess," Lance said.

"Ugh."

"Have fun!" Jaz cheered as they made their way to the closest lion.

Flying Red out of the ship, Keith felt a little cramped as everyone crowded in the cockpit. They did know there was a larger area in the back right?

"This is the gravity generator creating the space-time fold hiding the station," Ulaz said. "It was created by a reclusive genius engineer named Slav. His technology allows the Blade of Marmorato remain hidden while we work to take down the Galra Empire. Zarkon would do anything to get his hands on this technology."

"So there are Galra out there who aren't loyal to Zarkon?" Keith asked making sure to keep his tone unreadable, he didn't want Shiro to worry, or Traveler forbid Jaz become suspiscious of his inquires.

"We thought that expanding the empire would bring stability," Ulaz supplied as they landed and walked inside, "we realized too late a tyrant doesn't seek stability, only power. With our members working on the inside, planning coordinated attacks with Voltron, we may finally have a chance."

"So you have agents working within Zarkon's ranks?" Hunk asked.

Ulaz looked at him raising a bushy white brow, "How do you think you got away from Zarkon in that last fight? Do you think those sheilds around the Command Center went down on their own? We've got people risking their likes in this war, just like you."

"If you've got people on the inside, do you think they could tell me where my family is?" Pidge questioned. "They were taken the same time Shiro and Jaz were."

"I knew others from the Sol System were captured, I never saw them, but there are some records of Galra prisoners here. I can transmit them to your ship."

"What's that weapon you carry?" Keith asked looking at the symbol.

Ulaz saw where he was looking and pulled out the blade. "It's a ceremonial blade that each member of our order carries."

"Cool."

"So do you guys have any allies?" Shiro asked.

Ulaz nodded. "A few, but most are small factions, our biggest allies have been unreachable for several decapheobs. Their loss was a critical blow to our work."

"What happened?" Hunk asked.

"We don't know, one day all communications and shipments were cut off without warning."

"Do you think the Galra got them?" Shiro frowned and Ulaz shook his head.

"I do know for a fact Zarkon tried to make an alliance with the area, but our contact made it clear it was refused."

Shiro furrowed his eyebrows, that didn't sound good, "You think they retaliated?"

This earned a short from the seemingly stoic man. "Not even Zarkon's druids are willing to go into such a dangerous area uninvited. The system one of the deadliest ever seen, it hasn't been at peace since the dawn of the Galra Empire. The violence has only worsened in the last six thousand years. The losses of sending troops there would be unfathomable."

Pidge grimaced, "Yikes."

Then, the screens turned red as the alarm went off, making Ulaz turn around and look at them accusingly. "You were tracked!"

"What? Us?" Pidge gasped in shock as Keith bristled.

"If Zarkon knows we're here, it's because you ratted us out!"

"It's another one of Zarkon's robot…beasts—Robeasts!" Hunk exclaimed as they saw the oddly shappen machine fly towards the clusters.

"We have to get back to the ship," Shiro ordered.

"Does it even know where exactly we are?" Jaz questioned. "We are in a space-time fold."

"That doesn't matter, we still need to be ready to fight if it does realize where we are," Shiro supplied.

Ulaz didn't suppled any answers as he slapped something into Shiro's hand. "These are instructions on how to reach the Blade of Marmora's headquarters. Before you go there, find out how Zarkon is tracking you, if you lead him there, our entire undergound network, everything we've spent centuries building will be lost."

Racing to Red, Keith swung into the pilot's seat as the others crowded him in the cockpit. Pulling out of the hangar, they opened a frequency to the Castle.

"Allura, we've got a robeast heading our way," Hunk stated and the Atlean Princess glowered.

/I knew he couldn't be trusted!/

"It wasn't him," Shiro and Jaz replied.

/That doesn't matter now!/ Coran snapped. /What should we do?/

"Why can't we do what Jaz said and hide here in the space clam till it goes away?"

"We are doing that Hunk," Jaz said raising an eyebrow. "We're just heading back just in case it does find us."

"Oh."

Landing in his hangar, Keith let his passengers get off, before closing Red's mouth and facing her towards the exit. Now came the irksome game of waiting to see what the enemy does.

/We should be hidden as long as we're in the space pocket/ Pidge said sounding like she was getting in Green.

/Uh guys, it's drawing in the Xanthorium clusters/ Coran called just before Keith could hear the explosions outside, but they weren't hitting the Castle due to the pocket.

/I'm pretty sure it knows we're here now/ Jaz deadpanned.

The was a rumble and the sound of blaster fire. /Direct hit. It definitely knows we're here!/

/Get the particle barrier up!/ Allura ordered. /Jaz, ready?/

/I'm always looking for a good fight/

"That's why you always got in trouble when we were kids," Keith quipped, smirking at her frustraited groan.

/And at the Garrison/ Shiro teased. /Remember the incident involving Admiral Sanda?/

/SHE HAD IT COMING!/

/Don't push yourself, you're still recovering from the last battle/ Coran reprimanded and they all heard Jaz's growl.

Blasts rapidly made impact with the barrier of the anomaly, attempting, yet failing to break through the protective barrier surrounding them. Opening its massive jaws, the robeast began drawing in more clusters.

/He's readying another attack!/ Coran exclaimed.

The Castle shifted, and Keith was jostled in his seat. Why in the Light were they moving? The pocket seemed to be protecting them just fine.

His answer came in the form of Allura shouting over the comms, /He's drawing us in as well!/

/Power Rangers you're welcome to form Megazord or whatever it was at any time!/

/Wait what Ranger would that make meEEH!/ Lance screamed as they were shot out of the hangars.

Forming Voltron, they shot through the barrier of the space-time pocket, and Keith shoved Red forwards, smirking as Red punched the beast back.

/We're exposed, the space fold's been lowered!/ Allura exclaimed and they saw a small ship shoot by.

/There goes Ulaz/

/I knew we should never trust a Galra/

/Will focus on the issue at hand rather than your prejudices?!/ Jaz exclaimed.

"If you two are gonna argue, do it off the comms, it's distracting!" Keith snapped as Voltron punched the oddly-shaped robeast back.

/Alright, let's light this thing up! Fire lasers!/

Green fired first hitting the beast, followed swiftly by a barrage from Red. Getting further away from them, the unproportionate jaws opened wide, allowing it to suck in more of the Xanthorium.

/It's drawing in more ammo!/

/Move, move, move!/ Shiro ordered and Voltron quickly stopped, the first shot flying past right where they would've been. Flying back through the clusters, the beast turned with, letting its laser ignite the explosive clusters. Several of the chain-reactions exploded along side them, causing Voltron to be blasted out of hiding into the open area where the beast could see them. /Lance! Hunk! Give me full-reverse boosters!/

Flipping over, the legs of Voltron activated the boosters, slowing and haulting their crash course before they hit another cluster. Before they could regroup, an immense gravity pulled on them as the beast's jaws opened wide and began sucking them and the clusters towards it. With the boosters still activated, Voltron tried to fly out of range, but unfortunately was hit by one of the clusters caught in the robeast's pull, exploding and knocking them closer to the mouth; where the gravity was more intense.

/This thing wants to eat us like we're a space taco!/ Hunk whined.

Getting closer, Voltron turned around, placing the feet on either side of the mouth as the two puny arms grabbed onto the Red and Green lions, holding them in place.

_"Keith! Use the jawblade!" _Yorak suggested, and Keith smirked. He had been thinking of summoning the sword, but due to the fact Red and Green had to connect for a split second in order to develop the energy needed, that wasn't going to happen with the space T-rex here was holding them apart.

Activating the blade, Keith turned Red in the arms and stopped pulling back, using the thursters to stab forwards, hitting it and making it let them go.

/Good thinking Keith!/ Pidge cheered as they flew away from the beast.

/We've gotta get some distance between us and that robeast!/ Shiro exclaimed as they wove through the Xanthorium clusters.

Several quick shots rang out and the three closest clusters exploded, blasting Voltron around like a ping-pong ball through the inferno. Flying out, they flew under the purple light as the jaws opened, trying to draw them in again.

/It's trying to eat us again!/

The jaws closed for a second before opening again, this time catching Voltron in its range. /I've got thrusters at full capacity and it's not making a difference!/

/Jaz! Now would be a really good time for an assist!/ Shiro called.

/I can't!/ she growled, sounding frustraited, /If I miss it'll cause an explosive chain reaction bigger than the current attacks!/

/I can get a precise shot!/ Coran called.

"What are you waiting for? Take it!" Keith snapped and a beam blasted by, slamming into the robeast, pushing it back and forcing it to close its jaws.

/Is everyone alright?/

/Alive yes, alright, that's questionable/ Lance replied.

The jaws opened again and a blue shield materialized in front of the particle barrier as Xanthoirium asteroids began to fly towards and hit the shield protecting the Castle. /I really don't know how long I can hold this!/

/We need a way to stop its tractor beam!/ Pidge exclaimed.

/I have an idea! Form shield!/ Shiro ordered as the object formed from Voltron's wings in Green's jaws and they flew straight at the robeast. /We'll use the shield to block the beam!/

Ramming it, Keith and Pidge used their lions to make sure the shield was stuck in the jaws, preventing them from closing and blocking the tractor beam.

/Why didn't you do that sooner?!/

"We've stopped the beam, now what?" Keith questioned tightening his grip on the controls, that shield wouldn't hold this thing off forever, eventually the evil Cat-Roomba would shake it off.

/Now we go on the offensive/ Shiro stated.

/Oh!/ Pidge squealed over the comms like she was a student who knew the answer to a hard question in class, /We can use the Xanthorium clusters!/

/Yes! Payback!/ Lance cheered.

Flying forwards, Voltron grabbed the shield, using it to push the robeast around and towards the biggest cluster they could find. Pushing the thrusters to the max for a moment, they gained speed before letting go and stopping themselves and summoning the shield back before impact was made.

It seemed to work, then the next attack began, at least they already had the shield out to defend themselves as it blocked the laser as the power of it pushed Voltron back.

/The shield can't handle this much power!/ Katie exclaimed.

And so much for their defense.

The shield broke apart, knocking Voltron back, but they managed to recover quickly, flying back up as the beats opened its jaws again and began trying to eat them.

/We might not be able to beat this thing!/ Hunk exclaimed.

/Hang on!/ Ulaz's voice called.

_"Did we leave the comms open?"_ Yorak questioned and Keith shrugged. How was he supposed to know that would happen?

/Ulaz?/ Jaz and Shiro questioned.

/Hang on! I'm going to take it down from the inside!/ he said as they spotted the smaller craft speeding towards them.

/WHAT?!/

The implications dawned on Keith. He'd heard the phrase before, but it always came from other Guardians, and unlike Ulaz, they were immortal. "DON'T! IT'S SUICIDE!"

/Ulaz! No! Let us handle this!/

/Voltron is too valuable. The universe needs you/ he stated, sounding resolved in his choice and before any further protests could be made, the smaller ship flew into the mouth and it slammed shut behind.

The beast froze for a second before flying at them again, making Keith wrinkle his nose in anger. It should've been dead from that, the ship's impact should've killed it, but it was still alive. One way or another he was going to eliminate this thing. There was no way he'd let that kind of sacrifice be for _nothing_.

Voltron got into a fighting position, ready to fight it again, only to watch as the engines sputtered and it appeared to start short-circuiting. The real cause became apparent when pieces began folding in on itself.

/Ulaz opened the space pocket inside!/ Pidge exclaimed as Keith came to the same realization. /It's falling in on itself!/

The beast crumpled into a small ball before it exploded in firely light, taking out a large portion of the Xanthorium, but this time, it stayed dead.

/He did it/

"Ulaz saved us," Keith breathed, feeling guilty. He blamed him for when the robeats found them, and now he was gone, and he couldn't apologize for the accusation.

/He's…gone/

-.-

Keith walked into the observation room where Shiro and Jaz stood looking out the window to where Ulaz and the beats had vanished, sharing in their grief at the loss. "Sorry we doubted Ulaz," he apologized, "he saved our lives."

"I still have so many questions," Shiro choked, his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

Jaz pressed her lips together in a solemn smile, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We'll find our crew. He gave us the database, I'm certain there's something on it."

Keith glanced away, feeling like he was intruding on something. It was no secret that Shiro and Jaz were close, they had to be in order to stay sane in the pits, for them it had to be natural to comfort each other after rough battles at this point. He felt bad to bother them with his concerns.

"Do you really think Zarkon's tracking us?" Keith quietly asked, part of them hoping they wouldn't hear so he could just slip out of them room and let them have their peace. He could let Yorak run a scan of the ship to check for trackers, maybe even look around for anything tainted with the witch's magic.

We can't know for sure," Allura stated coldly, making him jump. When did she walk in? "Ulaz was the only one who knew of our whereabouts."

"You don't really think Ulaz gave us up?" Shiro questioned, his voice turning icy as he and Jaz both slowly turned. "After he sacrificed himself?"

"Did it ever cross your mind that Zarkon could've found this place on his own?" Keith barked coming to the aid of his friends before Allura could snap at either of them, they didn't need that right now. "He's probably been searching for the Blade of Marmora."

"If you ask me, it seems impractical to let us go when he had us cornered at Central Command for us to walk into a more elaborate trap," Jaz hissed, her grin resembling a wolf baring its teeth.

Allura, glanced down, she did make a point, but she wouldn't put anything past the Galra. "It's clear that the loss of Ulaz has caused you great concern, but regardless of how Zarkon located us, we cannot stay here any longer. It's not safe."

Keith crossed his arms, relaxing his stance. "Then we should meet up with the rest of Ulaz's group, finish what we started."

"No," Shiro stated, "we're not going to the headquarters until we figure out how Zarkon found us. We can't risk losing the only allies we have in this war."

"I'll go with Hunk and Pidge, run a thorough scan for any tracking devices," Jaz said, grabbing Allura. "C'mon Princess, we may need to use magic."

Not bothering to see the women leave, Keith turned to Shiro, looking over him in concern. His adoptive brother looked absolutely exhausted. "You need anything?"

"I'm ok."

Keith let his shoulders slump slightly, Shiro was almost as bad as keeping things internalized as he was. "I think Hunk, Lance, and Pidge were planning on eating soup and watching a movie. The soup was pretty good when I tried it."

Shiro seemed to perk up, if only slightly. "Are you going?"

Keith shook his head, "I was gonna catch up on some sleep, I already had my bowl."

Shiro gave a small smile, "Maybe I'll head up there in a bit, not like I can say no to Hunk's cooking."

"Who can?"

"True," Shiro said ruffling his hair. "You got get some rest then, I'll be up soon. Right now, I…I just need some time to myself."

He nodded in understanding. "I'll let them know," he said quietly leaving. Walking towards his room, Keith managed to pass Shiro's location to Pidge and Lance, both of whom swiftly started heading that way despite his protests.

But at least Shiro wouldn't be alone, grieving alone was often worse.

Closing the door behind him, Keith sat on the bed and pulled out his knife. Yorak flew beside him, being unusually quiet as he unwrapped the cloth he'd wrapped around the blade his father gave him, saying it came from his mother.

Revealing the glowing symbol at the hilt, there was no doubt: it was the exact same as the one on Ulaz's sword.


	16. In Distress

Chapter 16

**A/N: alright, next chapter! Yay! Who's excited? Anyways, sorry about the chapter mix up in the last chapter. Guess we all have one of those days, I've fixed the mistake.**

**Once again, I just own this story and my OCs, otherwise, it ain't mine.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashbacks/Yorak talking to Keith alone_**

"Let's hurry up with these repairs," Shiro said as he, the other Paladins, and Jaz floated just above the hull of the Castle, "Zarkon could be here at any moment."

"Shiro, I'm pretty sure he and that witch have to sleep at sometime, they're both pretty old," Jaz remarked putting a hand on her hip. "Not even you can keep that up forwever, no matter how hard you've tried."

"Ok, panel's off," Hunk said making the two adults focus as they saw the blue tube sticking out from the hull, "now what?"

/Very simple. Just loosen the blaxums on the somoflange/

They all looked at each other, seeing if anyone knew what he was talking about. "Could you be more specific?"

/Sorry Hunk, he means the poklones on the agroclams/ Allura replied.

"No, that doesn't help."

"Allura, I don't think your part names are translating for us," Jaz called.

"Don't worry guys," Lance said gently moving Hunk aside as he cracked his knuckles with a smirk, "I got this." Looking at the board for a moment, Lance pressed a few random buttons and turned a knob, that should do it. Hearing a whirr he grimaced when it turned red and the alarm began blaring. "That can't be good."

/No! Not the smalters! The poklones!/

/No! No! it's the blaxums!/

"What are you talking about?!" Keith exclaimed. He'd been fluent in Altean since he was a kid and even with that he still had no idea what they were talking about. The names must've changed over the past few millenia.

Pidge shoved Lance aside and scanning the board calculatingly. Pressing a button, she turned two knobs, and grabbed the top, twisting and pushing it down. "There fixed," she said as the alarm and lights powered down.

/Well done Pidge!/

"The tech on this ship never ceases to amaze me," she admired, stars practically shining in her eyes, "it's so mathematically elegant. Its fit is a hundred-times more frictionless than any of the exoskeletons we have on Earth! It's beautiful!"

"It's not a sunset, Pidge," Lance deadpanned.

"You're right," she nodded. "A billion sunsets happen everyday. Some genius engineer actually built this."

"That kinda looks like a big delicious curly fry," Hunk commented as the tube went back into the hull. Looking up at the others, he grunted as something hit the side of his helmet, coving half his vision with a glowing blue-ivory color. "What the…?"

Turning ahead, they watched as the Castle flew into a field of particulates of a similar nature.

"Alright," Shiro smiled, summoning his shield, "we're prepared for this, remember your rouge projectile cluster training from the Garrison. First we need a temporary shelter—gah!" Shiro turned as one of them hit the back of his head, making him spot Lance who was still in a throwing position and Jaz who was stifling laughter.

"Sorry Shiro!" Lance winced.

"Who cares!" Jaz grinned hugging the Blue Paladin, "You have no idea how close I was to doing that! You made me so proud!"

"…Uh, thanks? Anyways, I was aiming for Keith," he apologized before his helmet was covered in goo as Keith chuckled.

"Like that."

"SQUISHY ASTEROID FIGHT!" Hunk shouted and all except Pidge grabbed an asteroid, hurling them at each other. Lance and Hunk were working together, as were Shiro and Keith, leaving Jaz as a one-woman army.

"Alright guys!" Shiro said only for Jaz to hurl several of the gooey asteroids at him. Wiping it off, he smirked, "It's on!"

"Hey!" Lance protested when Jaz threw a ball at him only to laugh as Keith hit her with two more. Unfortunately he didn't get to see her retaliation because Shiro hit him and Hunk again.

"I don't think these are asteroids," Pidge said grabbing one. "Coran, I'm gonna need a containment unit."

/Just a tick/ he called and a small container flew out towards her. Catching it, Pidge put the unknown object in, letting a scan get run.

/They aren't asteroids/ Allura confirmed /They apper to be some sort of hyper-resilient spore/

"This bioluminescent pulsing doesn't seem natural," she stated. "It looks programmed, I think it's a code."

"A code? From who?" Hunk asked before one of Keith's fast-balls hit him.

"I don't know. It makes no sense. You can't program a spore," she grumbled narrowing her eyes at the spore in the container.

Shiro lowered his shield to look at the Green Paladin, "If there's anyone who can figure it out, it's you Pidge," he smiled before Jaz and Lance hit him at the same time making him spin.

"Nice one!" Jaz grinned high-fiving him.

"Right back at ya, gorgeous!"

Jaz glared at him and crossed her arms. "You had to ruin a good thing, didn't ya?"

/Everyone, come in for decontamination. Then we can figure out what that spore is/ Allura ordered.

Flying inside, they stood in the chamber, all but Keith and Jaz jumping around as the hot water hit them. Without warning a tide of cooler soapy water washed in, letting Shiro and Hunk scrub as Lance clung to Jaz in surprise, Pidge floated around, and Keith remained firmly in place till more water came in, making them foat around. Eventually the waters drained and a vent blasted on, making Lance cling to Hunk to keep from getting blown away, Jaz began sputtering as her hair tried to smother her as Shiro let his floof fly in the wind, Keith stayed grounded probably on sheer stubbornness alone and watched as Pidge was blown away.

Getting released, Keith went to his room, following the others' lead in getting some rest before going to meet up to see the spore results. Changing never took long for him since Yorak could just switch out and replace whatever he was wearing, but at least he could take the time to gather his thoughts.

Sitting down on the bed, he pulled his knife out of his father's sheath, looking at the symbol. Questions burned through his brain: How were the Guardians connected with the Galra? Were they with the empire or the rebels? What was his mother doing with this? Who was she? Why did his father never talk about her? Was she Galra? Did that make him Galran? Could it just be a coincidence? How would the others react if he was Galra?

_"Keith—"_ Yorak began as the door started opening, startling the Red Paladin out of his thoughts before they took a darker turn. Shoving the knife under his pillow, he sat up and looked expectantly at Coran as the advisor appeared in the doorway.

"Did you happen to see a mouse come through here? He has something of mine."

"Uh…no?"

"I'll find you Platt!" Coran grumbled turning away and Keith got to his feet, if anyone could answer his questions it seemed to be Coran. Besides Allura, Jaz, and Shiro, he was the only one who knew about the Galra tactics, and the only one who wouldn't present bias or unwanted questions unlike the others.

"Wait!" he called jogging up behind him as he continued searching for the elusive mouse. "Do you think the Galra ever went to Ter—Earth?" he questioned. Earth was close enough, it was possible to end up in the Krein System from the Sol using the natural wormhole connecting the two areas. And unlike the Krien entrance, the Sol one was not as heavily guarded so it would've been possible for a Galra ship to end up in his home. Though, his dad owned a house on Earth too, so they could've met there. "They would've taken it over, right?"

"I think you'd know if the Galra were there."

"The Blue Lion was there," Keith reminded. "Did a Galran pilot the Blue Lion too?"

"Actually, Blue was flown by—"

"Hey," Lance interrupted opening the door wearing pjs, a robe, Blue Lion slippers, a towel on his head, and a facial mask, "why are you asking about my lion? How many lions do you need?"

"What? No, I-I was just—"

"Don't 'What? No' me!" Lance snapped shoving a finger to Keith's chest accusingly, "you've had your eye on the Blue Lion since day one!"

"It was calling to me out in the desert, and it was the first one we found," Keith defended.

"Ah! Bah-bah-bah-bah! The Blue Lion's with me! and we're very happy together! Very happy!" he called as his door closed.

_"…He made it sound like they were married."_

Keith's eyebrow twitched at that comment, but he kept his cool, he still needed to ask Coran some questions.

**"Guys! Check this out!"**

They all gathered in Green's hangar looking at the spore hovering in the container.

"Oh, I've seen this experiment," Hunk grinned, "but quick question: Why do we need to get electricity from a potato?"

"Because they can be mass-produced and don't harm the environment?" Jaz shrugged.

"What?" Pidge asked looking at them, "No, I was able to crack the sporse code."

"The sporse code?" Jaz said raising an eyebrow.

"You're just mad because I came up with it first," she said sticking her tounge out at the older woman. Adjusting her glasses, she began typing on the monitor again. "Anyway, I ran the bioluminescent pattern through a variety of code-breaking sequences uncluding this homemade Turing machine. Of course I had to make a few tweaks to the original design because obviously there've been several advancements since he designed it. Though you have to admit Turing was a shining light in the world of science in an age when far too many were still—"

"Pidge!" Keith snapped making her yelp. "What's it say?"

"Oh, right: 'Under attack. Galra. Help.' And then there are coordinates."

"Sounds like a distress signal to me," Jaz huffed putting her hands on her hips.

"Good work Pidge," Shiro praised. "Get those coordinates into the Castle-Ship's navigation system."

-.-

"The signal came from Olkarion, home to the Olkari," Coran explained as they flew towards the blue-gold rocky planet with two moons. He pulled up an image of an advanced city that reminded some of them of Mesoamerican pyramids. "They're a proud class of engineers. They were builders of vast cities they could shape at the whim of their creators."

"The Olkari have an ability to control metal," Allura added, "with a wave of their hand the Olkari could build a supercomputer inside a block of steel."

Keith grimaced, and he could sense Yorak's unease at this as well. Putting something that could manipulate technology so close to his ghost was not something he'd say he was excited to do.

_"Note to self: Keep distance,"_ Yorak said quietly and Keith nodded in agreement.

"Whoa."

"And Olkari once gave me this!" Coran said holding up a floating box.

Lance looked at the others before looking back at the box, "What is it?"

"Hello? It's a floating cube!" he laughed. "Oh, this guy. And watch this! My name is Coran and I'm a gorgeous man."

**"My name is Coran and I'm a gorgeous man."**

"Why would a society of literal tech-wizards use spores to send a distress signal?" Keith questioned. "And how were they captured? If they can create anything they want, why didn't they create weapons to fight back?"

"Maybe it was an ambush?" Hunk suggested.

"Or a trap," Jaz said.

"Who cares? When can we see that city?!" the younger girl exclaimed.

"Actually Pidge, the distress signal isn't coming from the city," Allura supplied. "It's coming from…the forest!"

"…Oh."

-.-

/Why doesn't anyone send a distress signal from a cool place?/ Pidge questioned as they flew down towards the forest. /I hate the outdoors. Nothing but sunburn and poison oak/

Keith smiled looking out the window, Traveler, when was the last time he saw a forest? He didn't even realize how much he missed the mountains and trees till now. "I like it out here. It's quiet, peaceful, and you never know what you could find."

_"Left."_

"Hmm?"

Turning his head, Keith raised an eyebrow. Were those…arrows?

Before he could ponder further on what this meant, Red jerked and gave a growl, she was not happy about something. Neither was Keith as she began flying towards the ground, the controls in his hands remaining unresponsive.

/What was that?/

"Are we being attacked?"

/I don't know, but something's dragging my lion down to the surface/ Shiro called.

/Yeah, something's pulling Blue down too/

Landing on the ground, they found themselves looking at a bunch of pale green bipeds, with pointed darker-colored heads, white marks around the eyes wearing robes and holding guns of some sort as wooden…tanks stood behind them?

/Are those…wooden mech suits?/

/Did we seriously get taken down by a bunch of tree people?!/

**"We come in peace!"** Shiro called down to them.

"Seriously?" Keith muttered.

/Did you really just do the cliché trope?/ Lance questioned.

One wearing a hood walked up, lowering it revealing it to be probably the elder. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Keith looked and saw Katie getting on top of green waving the spore yelling something. Whatever it was, it was probably right because then the tree people began cheering.

-.-

"When the Galra attacked, only a few of us escaped the cities," Ryner explained as she led them into the forest-city.

"How long have you lived like this?" Shiro asked.

"Many decapheobs," she answered. "But as you can see, our people are resilient. We never stopped evolving. Instead we adapted our skills to the environment."

They walked through the massive city, and Keith couldn't help but smile, it reminded him a lot of the Farm back home. A few small houses, a smaller city built into the caverns within the cliffs where they harvested some of the crops needing a specialized environment. God it felt so nice to be in a forest again, light breeze, shade, all the things he didn't have back on Earth.

"Wow," Pidge admired watching as a wooden dragonfly-drone flew passed, "Coran was right, you really are the best engineers in the universe. To be able to switch from working with precision machinery to a bunch of sticks!"

Keith glowered, he happened to prefer a bunch of sticks over an overcrowded metal pyramid. That just made him think of the Vex on Hevno.

"Nature's designs are far superior to any device we could devise," Ryner said.

Katie scoffed, "No offense, but I'll take a computer over a tree any day."

Note to self, never let Pidge near the Vex, Keith thought, shivering at the possible consequences. She'd probably try to keep a Goblin, or a Minotaur, or even God-forbid a Hydra as a pet! She already took a Galra drone for herself, she'd probably take the chance with a homicidal robot from another dimension.

"You two can talk science later," Shiro interrupted. "Let's assemble Voltron and get rid of these Galra invaders."

"It's not that simple, I'm afraid," Ryner sighed. "The Galra have our leader, Lubos."

"Lubos," all the Olkari around them echoed sadly.

"If you attack, who knows what they'll do to him?"

"Then we'll just have to rescue him," Shiro stated.

-.-

Keith furrowed his brows and looked around in confusion. Ok, so they were going to rescue the king, but the lions were too obvious so they were going to the armory…and now they were here in a grove? Something wasn't connecting here, because last he checked a forest was not the ideal place to find weapons—unless there were enemies to drop loot, then it was perfect.

"Uh, Ryner, where are we?" he finally asked.

"This is the armory."

Uh…what? According to his ghost's scans there weren't any enemies around here that dropped weapons or ammo, and there weren't any vendors…so how exactly was this an amory?

His answer came as two of the Olkari put their hands near the plants and there was a shift in the quintessence in the air. Before their eyes, the two flowers formed usable blasters.

_"…That's new."_

"Whoa."

Ryner walked up to a tree, placing her hand on it. Green light flowed up and into one of the seeds hanging from a branch high above. It glowed for a moment before dropped down, the ground shaking slightly as the wooden-mecha landed in front of them.

"Whoa!"

"Cool!"

"Can I get one of those?" Keith asked.

"Of course," she said walking to a bloom and pulling out some headbands, "you can each have one. Now, the kew to operating it is understanding that the nanocellulose responds to electrical impulses from the neural pathways connected through this."

"Do what now?"

Hunk tapped his headband with his tongue, "It makes my tongue itchy."

"…Why are you putting random things in your mouth?" Lance questioned.

"That's your interface?"

"Of course, all commands need to come as binary coded messages."

"So, like this?" Pidge asked putting her hand on the tree. It glowed for a moment before a mech landed next to her.

"Well done Pidge!" Ryner praised as Keith walked over to a tree and placed his hand on it ignoring the commotion around him as Lance complained about something.

This couldn't be that hard? It involved quintessence…though he wasn't too sure on how to send commands through binary code, but Yorak could probably help there. It couldn't be too different than getting a crystal from a Balmera. Closing his eyes, he slowed down his breathing and funneled a trickle of quintessence down his arm, through his hand, and into the tree, sending the image of what he needed to mold the wood into. A loud crack sounded above, and Keith pulled back, stepping aside as a burnt and fried pod crashed beside him in a smoldering heap.

Keith grimaced noticing they were all looking at him; Hunk looked perplexed, Lance was laughing, Ryner, Hunk, and Pidge looked surprised, and Shiro looked concerned. Guess those kids at the group home were right, he really was only good for destruction.

"Pidge, how were you able to do that?" Lance asked.

She shrugged, "I just did."

"You must have a deep connection with nature," Ryner commented and the youngest Paladin shook her head.

"Not really."

"Pidge is our resident tech expert," Shiro stated.

"Well that explains it, you understand that at the deepest level: these trees, metal, you, me…we're all made up of the same cosmic dust, all arranged by the laws of mathematics."

"Does this mean I should start gardening?"

Ryner chuckled. "You're going to need to give your friends a ride."

Keith got in the pod with Ryner and Shiro to avoid the others' teasing for blowing the pod up, it wasn't like he meant for it to happen. He didn't even use that much quintessence, heck, he'd already recovered it by the time the pod exploded.

"We'll go this way, to the egde of the forest! To save our king!" Ryner cheered as she began leading the way as they drove in the wood-tanks.

-.-

"Their headquarters are impenetrable from the ground," Rynver said as they all looked through scopes at the city, "however, there's one way in: a small opening in the roof. It goes all the way down to an open courtyard."

"That's quite a drop."

"But there you will have total access to the building. The hard part will be getting onto the roof undetected."

"That won't be a problem," Shiro stated as all their thoughts simultaneously thought of the Green Lion.

"Hey, hey, what's that?" Hunk pointed motioning to a big black box resembling Coran's flying cube. "Is that part of a building or something?"

"My Lubos!" Rynver gasped. "It can't be!"

"That looked the the cube Coran gave me," Pidge said holding ip the little cube.

"I haven't seen on of those in many decapheobs. We used to play with them as children, but only King Lubos could've designed one that size."

"Why would he do that?" Keith questioned looking over the box. What would the Galra need with a flying cube that echoes voices? Entertainment broadcasting?

"They must've forced him to reveal his designs and reconstruct it as a weapon," Ryner scowled. "From the looks of it, I'd say its almost finished."

_"How could that possibly be used as a weapon?"_ Yorak voiced his confusion and Keith shrugged, like he knew the answer to that.

Shiro nodded and looked over the city, "We need to act fast. Everyone back to base. I have a plan."

Getting back in the mechas, they turned around and listened as Shiro began explaining.

"First, we need to get to the top of that tower. Since the Green Lion has stealth capabilities, Pidge, you're the drop ship. You'll take Keith, Hunk, Lance, and me to the roof, then drop back to a safe position. After the drop we'll use a sensor to scan the building for any Olkari biorhythms."

-.-

Green flew out of the trees towards the city, activating cloaking, they hovered over the roof and the hatch opened, allowing the four men to jump out and freefall towards the ground.

About half-way down, Keith gave a short burst from his jetpack, and he could hear the others doing the same to slow down their momentum before falling further. Getting closer to the ground, they activated the packs again, slowing their descent for landing.

Placing the sensor on the ground they activated it and after a moment, Pidge sent them the results of the scan, giving them directions on where they needed to go.

Crouching behind a corner, they let a group of sentries pass before quietly jogging down the hall towards their destination. Coming to a door, they lined up on either side of it, readying their weapons just in case there were Galra on the other side of the door with the Olkari prisoners.

Hearing sobs and moans, they nodded to each other and quickly opened the door, rushing in…where a movie was playing?

The Olkari King was sitting on a chair in front of the screen sobbing as a servant stood beside him. "Betrayal!" he wept shoving some food into his mouth, "But she loves you!"

"King Lubos?" Shiro questioned.

"Yes?" the overweight ruler questioned, turning to look at them in confusion. "Are you the jesters I requested?"

"Um…we're here to, like, rescue you?" Lance answered.

Keith narrowing his eyes as the being frowned, he didn't look too excited. Lubos pressed a button and the alarms went off, some of the wall pulling back to reveal a group of sentries storming if followed by a Galra with metal arms and a cybernetic eye.

"You could've just said 'No thanks,'" Hunk whined.

"Looks like someone came to rescue you Lubos," the Commander sneered.

"You turned your back on your people to save your own skin?" Shiro said looking shocked.

"I'm doing this for my people," he stated standing up. "They wanted to fight the Galra, but they're too powerful! The Galra could destroy us!"

Keith glowered at the statement, more like Lubos was a coward. He damned his people to enslavement just because he was afraid to fight! They were literal tech-wizards, they could build any weapon they could imagine; that was more than enough to fend off the Galra! If they wanted to, Keith would bet that the Olkari could create fake Hive or Vex robots, that'd be more than enough to drive anyone away.

Instead, Lubos was living in luxury as his people starved as slaves.

"So you helped enslave your people and build a super-weapon?!"

"Don't make me the bad guy! He forced me to do it!" Lubos accused pointing at the commander.

"Did he force-feed you too?" Lance hissed.

"Uh…"

Keith had enough, Lubos was obviously useful to the Galra and he proved himself to be their enemy, so he could just be leverage. The best designer was useless if he was dead. "You're no king," he said lunging.

Seeming to realize what he was doing, the slower Olkari trued to run only for the enslaved servant to shove him back into Keith's arms where he kept the bayard close to his throat. "Alright, we're leaving! If anyone gets in our way, then your best designer's dead."

"Whoa, K-Keith," Shiro stuttered.

"That came out of nowhere!"

"La-sai, what are you doing?" Lubos questioned trambling in Keith's grasp, seemed the king never did think the consequences of his little scheme through. Eventually, his actions would end in something like this from the people he'd betrayed.

"You betrayed our people, I can't live this lie anymore!"

Keith sneered, glaring at the commander tightening his grip when the king tried struggling against him, "You don't want me to kill your genius engineer right?"

The Galra Commander grinned, "Oh, be my guest, it'll be one less thing I have to do. His work is done, the cube is complete."

Keith grit his teeth, that was so not according to plan. From what he understood the Olkari King was the most intelligent or had the most ingenuity out of all the others; if the Commander was ready to toss hims aside that meant they'd gotten all the weapons they needed out of him.

Or that's just how poweful his latest work was.

"What?!" Lubos gasped. "But-But I thought we had a deal!"

"Guards! Put them all out of their misery!"

The wall exploded inwards as Green's massive head burst in opening her jaws. **"Your ride's here!"** Pidge called as they all rushed onto the ramp. Pulling back, Lance and Hunk returned fire before Green turned away heading back towards the forest.

"The Cube's operational!" Shiro called and they all turned, seeing it lifting off the ground. "We need to get back to the lions and form Voltron!"

**"On it!"**

-.-

Walking out of Green, Keith unceremoniously tossed Lubos at Ryner's feet despite protests from the others about his harshness. In his opinion, traitors didn't deserve to be coddled.

"What's going on?" Ryner asked stepping forwards.

Shiro growled, glaring down at the Olkari ruler, "While your countrymen starved, King Lubos was well taken care of by the Galra. He _willingly _helped them build that cube, _willingly _helped enslave his own people!"

"Lubos…"

"I know you're devastated, but it's time to be strong and use your Olkari spirit to fight alongside Voltron and take back your planet!"

Ryner sighed and looked down at the man. "Lubos, how could you?"

"I…I was only trying to—"

"ENOUGH!" Ryner interrupted not wanting any of his pitiful attempts for an excuse as she whirled towards the crowd behind her. "WE MUST AND WE WILL FREE OUR PEOPLE!"

Rushing into Red, Keith took off into the air with the others close behind. They could see the cube coming closer, so they'd need to form Voltron fast.

Thankfully the transformation didn't seem to take too long, because before long they were flying high above the cube, looking down at it. /Alright team! Let's take that thing down!/ Shiro cheered.

Flying down towards it, the cube somehow began firing at them, which was impressive considering that it didn't even have a cannon.

/Form shield!/

Watching the protective barrier form in front of them, Keith narrowed his eyes as they shot down towards the cube. "Let's see how tough this magic cube is!" Pushing Red forwards, he fired the lasers, getting a direct hit.

To his surprise, the cube only seemed to absorb the impact before reflecting it right back at them, forcing Voltron to duck under the blast.

/Did it just absorb our lasers?!/

/We need to increase firepower!/ Shiro ordered. /Hunk! Use your blaster!/

_"Wait!"_ Yorak protested. _"If this thing is really absorbing our attacks then that might be a bad idea!"_

That made Keith's eyes widen, Hunk's cannon was the most powerful, so if this thing could absorb and reuse the energy…oh quiznak.

/I'm not sure this is a good idea!/ Pidge voiced.

"Wait!"

/Got it!/ Hunk said plugging in his bayard.

The cannon formed on Voltron's shoulder and Keith moved Red to support it and keep the weapon in a straight line as it fired. Hopefully this thing would be strong enough to destroy the cubem because he really did not want to be on the receiving end of this.

/I think it's working!/ Hunk cheered.

The blast stopped and the cube remained floating. The face closest to them glowed blue and then a powerful blast slammed into their shield, sending Voltron sliding back as they attempted to resist the pressure pressing against them.

/It's giving back whatever we fire at it/ Shiro grunted.

/That's what I was trying to tell you guys!/ Pidge exclaimed. /It's learning; making it's own versions of our weapons to use against us!/

/We can't just sit here! We need to move!/ Lance called as a surge started rolling down the line.

Flying out of the way, the beam followed and they hit the ground, making Voltron roll to its knees before blasting off again.

/How to we beat this thing?/ Hunk complained.

/Maybe if we form our sword, we can cut through the surface and cut right to the center thinking point place thingy/ Lance suggested

Keith furrowed his eyebrows, that wasn't a bad plan. The cube could reflect shots, but it didn't seem to have the capabilities to form a sword or a similar weapon. "Can't be any worse than what's happening now."

/Let's do it/ Shiro agreed, /Form sword!/

Slamming his bayrd into place, Keith turned it activating Voltron's sword. Flying towards the cube again, they wove between shots before flying up and Keith moved Red to cleave down, slicing right through the middle.

/It's working!/ Pidge said only for the sides to turn black, now they were facing two cubes instead of one.

_"You two just had to say something."_

"Ala fhau facosg ossdoloafoes rlem fha Vex [Are they taking inspiration from the Vex]? Keith muttered in Alasian, another native language of the Krien System.

_"Possibly, it would explain the adaptive learning patterns,"_ Yorak remarked, _"The Vex would learn during battle and take data from it for future strategies and attacks…though, I've never seen a Vex replicate like that. At least it can't teleport at random."_

"Flya [True]."

/It's still operational! Re-engage!/ Shiro commanded.

Flying up, Keith slicked sideways along the glowing violet line. Now he had to have hit the CPU of this thing, there was no way he could've missed it.

/We did it!/ Hunk cheered /They're going down!/

As if to contradict him, the four cubes had violet lines activate and they began flying.

_"HUNK!"_

/Uh-oh/ Lance said before they began shielding themselves from the onslaught.

/We gotta move!/ Shiro ordered as Voltron flew up as a cube flew into their way firing and slamming them back before a blast from another one hit them. /We can't fight them like this! We have to split up back into lions!/

Following orders, Keith and Red sperated from the others flying around the cube looking for a way to take it down.

/Let's see if I can freeze thses guys!/ Lance said firing the ice-cannon. It seemed to work, as ice covered the cube, but an energy spike shattered the frozen water and it fired back, resulting in Blue's head being covered in ice. /So cold. So cold. So cold/

"I got ya," Keith said flying over and using Red's fire to melt the ice locking Blue's jaws shut.

/Thanks Keith!/

_"Duck!"_

Flying Red down, Keith watched as a beam chased Yellow. /Shiro! What are we gonna do?/

/There doesn't seem to be any way to stop them/

_"That's reassuring."_

/But we can't let this weapon get into Zarkon's hands/

"Then what's the plan?!" Keith called driving Red under a cube using her jawblade to cut part of it. looking back he groaned as he saw it self-repair. He really hated robotic weapons.

A scream rippled across the comms, and Keith snapped his head over to where he could see the Green Lion falling from the sky and he heard Red's angry growl in his mind at the sight of her wounded sister.

/Pidge!/

/Pidge! Are you ok?!/ Hunk asked.

Keith bit his lip, Pidge wasn't responding. That meant she was either unconscious from the crash or Green's systems were down, both of which were not good situations to be in at the time. They'd have to make sure to keep the cubes distracted from the easier target.

Turning Red, Keith let a fireblast hit the cube he was facing, making it fire back at him. "That's right, focus on me," he said barrel-rolling and diving under the cube, dragging the jawblade along the bottom trying to do some damage.

Coming out from under it, Keith grunted as a blast hit Red, coming from one of the other cubes and shorting out Red's systems. Bracing for impact, Keith cried out as his ribs snapped as he made contact with the console before he was tossed back into his chair as she skid to a stop.

Seriously, where were the seatbelts in these things?

Hearing impacts next to him, Keith turned the monitors to see the others making similar crash landsing beside him. Traveler, these guys were kicking their butts.

/Hang on!/ Pidge exclaimed and Keith felt a wave of relief, both his and Red's.

"Pidge!" Keith called excitedly with the others, thankful to hear her voice and knowing she was ok.

A green blur flew above and around the cubes, forcing the flying boes to try and keep up.

/Whoa Pidge! What's going on? You're booking!/

/I'm not sure, but I feel more connected to my lion than ever!/ she exclaimed. /I know what I have to do!/

/Then what are you waiting for?!/ Lance called.

Green flew up and turned, a cannon similar to Red's own railgun forming on her back with a roar. Firing, she hit the first cube and Keith got worried, what about the rebound? He saw the charge loading but instead of a laser coming out it was…vines. Massive, vines exploding out and covering the cube, focing it to the ground.

/Whoa, how'd you do that?!/

/That's right! Circle up everybody! Come get some of this!/ Pidge whooped firing at the next cube, not even stopping before she shot by, hitting the third, before sliding along the top of the one she just hit, firing at the last one before jumping off as vines overtook them as well.

/Huh…well that's not the way I thought a giant cube of death would go down/ Hunk remarked.

-.-

"I want to thank you all," Ryner said standing in front of them, "you helped us get our home back. and for that, we will never be able to repay you."

"Just promise me when it's time to take the fight to Zarkon, we can count on the Olkari for help," Shiro said holding out a hand.

"Now and forever," the new Olkari leader said shaking his hand in return. Turning to Pidge, the older woman looked down on her with a smile. "And you. The spirit of the Olkari resides in you, the bond between you and your lion has grown stronger than ever."

"Without you I never would've been able to unlock my lion's hidden power," she smiled. "Thanks."

-.-

"PIDGE! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Jaz cheered, pulling the youngest into a tight hug.

"Nice job Pidge," Shiro grinned watching as she struggled to get out of Jaz's grip.

"You know it's weird," Katie said popping her back when Jaz released her, "I've aleways been a tech junkie. That's how I connected with the world. But for the first time, I feel connected to everything. I guess it's like Ryner said: We're all made up of the same cosmic dust."

"So that means we're all related," Keith murmured more to himself than anyone else. "This ship, those stars, the Olkari…even the Galra," he smiled slightly, maybe there was a chance it wouldn't be so bad if his growing suspiscions were correct. If they really were made up of the same cosmic dust then maybe the others could accept him, maybe he finally wouldn't be the freak child that the foster care system had labeled him…Maybe he could tell them about being a Guardian.

"Uh-oh, I think Keith blew his own mind," Hunk teased.

Keith crossed his arms, but kept the small smile on his face despite the teasing. It felt nice to be part of a family again after going so long without his.

"Well that was a productive trip, look at all these cubes they gave me!" Coran said pulling out the cube again and tossing it up in air where it split into eight. "Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man!"

**"Coran, Coran, the gorgeous man!"** they sang back.

"Ah, sounds pretty good."

**"Ah, sounds pretty good."**

Hunk made a fart noise, and they all chuckled as the cubes relayed them back.

Then their peace was broken by the alarm going off. "What's that?"

**"What's that?"** the cubes repeated.

To their horror, Central command and a dozen fleets emerged from hyperspace right in front of them.

Jaz cursed, "Draaf."

**"Draaf."**


	17. Into the Storm

Chapter 17

**A/N: remember people, the story and OCs are owned by me, nothing else, kay? Kay.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercom or Coran's magical flying cubes"**

**_Flashbacks/Yorak talking privately with Keith_**

"Zarkon! How did he find us?!" Allura exclaimed.

"His commanders must've radioed him from Olkarion," Keith growled.

"We need to wormhole, now! Everyone to your stations!" Shiro ordered as they all began rushing to their positons. "We need to put some distance between us and Zarkon! This could be the fight of our lives."

"Until the next fight comes," Jaz deadpanned catching herself against the console as the Castle shook as the blaster fire began raining down on them.

"That's a lot of fighters!" Hunk exclaimed.

"Jaz! Try to take out as many of those as you can!" Shiro commanded. "Allura, do what you can to evade them! We can't have them following us through the wormhole!"

"On it," the Awoken mage said as her eyes began glowing and energy began to form outside of the particle barrier.

"Lance! Keith! Lay down some covering fire we need to buy Jaz time for her attack!"

Nodding Keith pulled up the controls for the small drone pulling the trigger and moving back and forth, it reminded Keith of a minigame on some Nintendo game he used to play.

"—twelve-o'clock," Pideg said and Keith turned, moving his drone and accidently hitting Lance's as he shot the fighters.

"Hey!"

"Sorry! Gotta be quick!" Keith stated.

Lance's drone rammed his. "How's that for quick?!"

"Why you…" he growled as they began ramming each other.

"Knock it off you two! Stay in your zones!"

"YEAH KEITH!"

"Pidge, keep calling out those fighters. Hunk, how are the defenses holding?"

"Uh…I don't know. Ten percent? Fifteen maybe? Everything's a blur, I have tired eyes! I've been up too long!" he complained.

"I've been up for a week straight because of combat before! So no complaining!" Jaz hissed baring her teeth as the energy line elongated.

"WHAT BATTLE WERE YOU FIGHTING THAT MADE YOU STAY UP FOR A _WEEK_?!" Lance exclaimed.

"I know we just came off an intense battle, but we gotta stay focused," Shiro reassured, "just until we jump!"

"When is that?!" Keith growled shooting down more ships.

"DUCK!" Jaz shouted and they all drove their drones down as the energy lashed out as Jaz swung her arm with a scream, slicing through the volley of fighters before hitting a cruiser. Swinging her other arm, she fired a second line, magaging to take down another cruiser and hit the bottom of Central Command. "Go! Use the moon!"

After saying those words, Shiro lept from his seat, catching her as she passed out cold. "Get us out!"

Nodding in agreement, Allura slingshot the Castle around the moon, putting more distance between the Galra and them. "We're clear!" Coran called and Allura opened a wormhole and flew inside.

"We're getting away from Zarkon, but how come we're still on alert?" Lance questioned as they all looked at the sparking wormhole.

"There's a Teludav lens malfunction! We're about to exit this wormhole a lot sooner than we planned!"

Coming out of the exit, they saw a large field of ice fragments floating around in a cluster. "Where are we? It looks like some sort of iceberg graveyard," Lance remarked.

"Coran, what's the status?" Allura panted.

"Checking now," he replied typing on his monitor. "We didn't make it to our exit, but we're far enough away from Zarkon's fleet where we should be alright."

"Is Jaz alright?" the Princess grimaced trying to stay on her feet.

"She should be fine, given some rest," Shiro stated, picking his friend up, "from what I do remember her magic takes a lot out of her."

Allura nodded, before sliding to her knees and they all worriedly gathered around her. "You look as exhausted as Jaz," Coran breathed, "you both exterted way too much energy. You all rest while I go to the main turbine and check on what's going—AHH!" he screamed as he went sliding across the room and slammed into the wall.

"Whoa, are you alright?" Lance questioned as Coran stepped away leaving a liquid impression of himself on the wall.

Keith's eyes widened, geez Coran sweat a lot…wait…how old was he again?

"I'm fine, I probably just hit a slippery spot," he lied pointing at the ground. "Someone clean that up!"

"You're sweating," Allura said looking at him with concern, "you might have a case of the slipperies."

"What?! No! that's an old person virus and im not old. I'm young."

_"Keep telling yourself that Coran."_

"Well youngish."

Keith blatantly felt Yorak's panic, _"Oh Traveler! Can he see me?! Can he hear me?! I'm so sorry Keith! Everyone! This is not the droid you're looking for!"_

"You're fine Yorak," Keith grumbled under his breath too worn out to bother switching languages.

"What are the slipperies?"

"It's a common Altean virus that occurs…later in life," Allura informed as they watched puddles form everytime Coram moved to a different spot. "It's not harmful and usually only lasts a couple days. But, it does cause one's body to secrete extremely slick fluid."

"Ew!"

"Gross!"

"Jhipp xijvajhinv ne quuhhok tef quunch hiquoj chea touk ih [Still disgusting no matter how many times you hear it]," Keith grumbled in Hevnoan.

_"You got that right." _

"Seriously, how many lanaguages do you two know?" Pidge grumbled recognizing the pattern of speech was different than Keith's normal go-to, so much for creating that translating program to find out some cool news curses to use behind Shiro's back.

"I'm gonna be sick," Hunk groaned.

"Yes, it is gross, so it's good that I don't have it," Coran denided.

"You're literally standing in a puddle of your own sweat," Lance grimaced.

That was all it took for Pidge to gag and run to go hurl.

"I'm not embarrassed, because I don't have it!" he exclaimed tossing his arms in the air and causing fluid to be splattered throughout the room, making Hunk and Lance run to join Pidge in puking. "And now I'm going to leave because I need to fix the main turbine." Turning to walk away, Coran ended up sliding around in his own sweat for a moment before falling to the floor and sliding off down the hall with a few curses.

"Alright," Shiro breathed, adjusting Jaz in his arms, "since Zarkon has no idea where we are, we can figure out our next step," they all sighed, "Maybe we can find that secret group, the Blade of Marmora. Pidge, where are those coordinates?"

The there was a moan as she sat up from the trash can looking a little green. "Wait a sec," she mumbled crawling over to her seat and tapping a few buttons, "I don't think my brain's working."

"Neither is mine," Lance sighed.

**"Hello all. I've checked the engines,"** Coran called over the monitor.

"That was fast."

**"I slipped right down—gah!"** he grunted as he fell, popping up with a red mark on his forehead, **"I mean hurried down! Anyways, good news: the Galra fighters did minimal damage, I flushed the turbine and it's fine. The bad news is the Teladav, or wormholer as you Solians call it, is in bad shape. Several scaultrite lens-stones of the magnifying-beam generator are cracked. As you know the generator uses a crystal to covert Altean energy into usable fuel. That supplies the power needed to wormhole. Anyways, I have to remove the cracked lenses and readjust trajectory until they can be replaced. I'm also going to need to divert power to make up for the lost energy. It's gonna take at least a quintant."**

"Alright then, we'll hide the ship and get some rest while Coran comes up with a work-around," Shiro stated, "tomorrow we'll be sharper and refocused."

-.-

Keith rummaged through his drawers looking for a swimsuit, before Coran escorted Allura back to her room like Shiro was taking Jaz she mentioned that there was a pool on one of the lower levels of the Castle.

"Yorak," he grunted as he sifted through the mess in the closet, "I wouldn't have happened to put a pair of trunks in storage? Or at a wetsuit?"

"Um…no?" he said flying over looking down as Keith buried himself into the mountain of old clothes. "Besides, if you do find a pair of trunks, are you sure you want to swim in them? I mean, who knows who wore it last?"

Popping up from the center of the pile, the young Guardian glared at his ghost. "I haven't been swimming in over three years. In case you forgot, the Garrison didn't have a pool and living in the middle of the desert wasn't helpful either. Besides, the last person to wear them died ten-thousand years ago," he stated diving back in. A split second later, Keith stood up holding a set of red and white trunks, "Found one!"

Getting changed into the suit, he grabbed a towel, lazily tossing it on his head as he walked towards the elevator. Finally, he could have a few relaxing hours of peace and quiet. No Lance, no Jaz, no Hunk, no one talking loudly or arguing. Just him and Yorak and silence.

Slamming his hand in the elevator before it closed, he forced it open and didn't bother to hide his glower as he saw Lance on the other side wearing a swimsuit.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" the Blue Paladin grumbled glaring at him as he stepped inside.

"Allura said there was I pool, I'm gonna check it out," he stated. "What are you doing?"

Lance gave a loud sigh as the doors closed, "Same."

Keith ground his teeth together, so much for relaxing. "Look, you stay on one side of the pool and I'll stay on the other. That way we'll be far away from each other. Very. Far. Away."

The elevator shook making them look up as something ground to a hault with a clang. _"That didn't sound good."_

Keith silently agreed, cursing as he and Lance were plunged into darkness.

"How are we gonna get out of here? I don't like the dark! Let alone being stuck in the dark with you!" Lance exclaimed turning towards the glowing eyes and Keith facepalmed.

"Lance, calm down, there's probably an emergency exit on the roof," he stated, feeling for the handles that were typically inside elevators. Finding it he carefully climbed up on it, pressing himself against the wall to keep from falling over. Feeling the roof, he found a latch and pulled, thankful when light came in.

"Dude…how are you balancing on that?"

"Practice," Keith stated jumping off and grabbing onto the ledge, pulling himself up.

"Wait!" Lance exclaimed, grabbing his ankle before he could pull it up.

"Lance, let go."

"No way, you'll leave me here in the dark!"

"I won't alright! Just chill!" he said shaking his leg. "Now let go, you're gonna pull me back in."

"Can you at least lift me to the ledge?"

Keith prayed silently for the willpower to just not leave him in the evelator. Ignoring the pain as he rolled onto his back and started pulling his leg up, stopping when a hand grabbed onto the ledge and the pressure on his foot gave out. "You can get the rest of the way right?" he said standing up and crossing his arms, "Or will I need to pull you up?"

"I've got this!" he exclaimed floundering his way up onto the elevator roof with a lot of whining and groaning. "Now what genius? How are we supposed to get out of here? In case you forgot we don't have our jetpacks and last I checked _humans can't fly_!"

"We just need to climb out," Keith stated looking at their surroundings. No elevator cable, so they couldn't use that to climb out and the next floor looked like it was still a ways above them.

"Hey, you ever see this old Disney movie: Emperor's New Groove?" Lance said.

Keith's eyes widened, he knew that movie, it was one of Cayde-6's favorites to toss on when he didn't feel like teaching class. "Yeah."

"Well—What? Really?"

Keith raised an eyebrow, "Is that such a surprise?"

"Uh…it just doesn't seem like your kind of thing," he remarked looking up. "Anyways, I was thinking we could do the rock-climb thing they did after the bridge fell. You know, back to back, pushing to keep each other up as we walk up the walls like Spiderman!"

Keith grabbed Lance's arms without hesitation, he wanted out, this was the best way to do it. Pushing back to back, he gave a glare to the Cuban, "Remember we have to move at the same time otherwise we'll fall, and depending on how high we get, we'll die."

"You really must be a blast a parties," Lance grumbled as they placed their feet on the wall and began walking up.

As they got further up the shaft, Keith noticed that he seemed to be leaning further away from the wall, and his worry was proven when he had to strain to reach the side on his next step. Getting his foot on the wall, he pushed harder when he noticed them slipping, he really didn't want to fall from this height without his jetpack.

"It's right, then left. You're off," Keith growled.

"You're off," Lance said pushing harder against him, where the heck was that force earlier? "And you're shoving too hard!"

"You aren't shoving hard enough!" Keith retorted putting more force into his side and looking up the shaft, how much further? If they kept this up, they'd strangle each other before reaching the exit.

"I should be at the pool right now."

"Stop whining," Keith snapped as his gaze landed on something, a panel maybe? Perhaps they could get the elevator moving again? Or was it a vent?

Either way, it was a way out of there.

"Look."

Lance turned his head, peering behind him over Keith's shoulder. Looking at each other they grinned and started climbing with new motivation. Getting up there, Keith kicked the panel in, revealing a vent.

"Lance, jump off the wall," Keith ordered grabbing Lance's arm.

He heard the Blue Paladin mutter a quick prayer in Spanish before Keith was shoved forwards into the vent, yanking Lance in behind them as they were shot down the ventilation system.

Coming out, they both screamed as they fell into open air, landing painfully on the metal floors.

_"…Never seen a pool look like that."_

Looking up towards the blue water, Keith and Lance stood up glaring at the roof-pool.

"WHAT THE HECK?!"

"Stupid Altean pools."

"How are we going to get up there?" Lance asked.

"Maybe there's a ladder?" Keith suggested as he stormed off to find one. Traveler help them if he could not find a way into the quiznaking pool.

-.-

Shiro sat on the bridge keeping an eye out for and Galra as the others relaxed, hearing the doors open, he peered over the chair, getting up as he saw Allura walking in. "What are you doing here? You should be resting."

"I cannont sleep," she stated startint to pull up a monitor. "Zarkon is out there, he's searching for us."

Shiro grabbed her hand, "I know how you feel, but you need to step away for a while. It's what's best for everyone."

An explosion rocked the side of the Castle, and they looked out the windows to see Galra fighters starting to surround them. "We're several galaxies away! How did they find us so soon?" Allura gasped.

"It doesn't matter, we need to get out of here!"

-.-

"You find one?" Keith asked glaring up at the pool.

"No, you?"

"No."

"…You think they jumped up there?" Lance questioned.

"Maybe?" Keith shugged.

The sound of something hitting the Castle echoed down to them they looked at each other then back at their surroundings in time to see the pool water engulfed them, dragging them up to the pool before gravity won out and yanked them back to the ground.

"Now it's just taunting us."

"We should get to the bridge!" Keith said yanking the Blue Paladin to his feet as he heard more blasts.

Racing through the halls, they ran onto the bridge, balking only for a moment as they saw the attacking fleet. "They found us again?" Lance groaned as he jumped into his seat. "How is that possible? Is that possible? It doesn't seem possible!"

"Right now we must figure out a way to get out of here," Allura stated as everyone else rushing in, getting into their seats.

"Or we can stay and fight," Keith stated, "Form Voltron enough running." In his opinion, it might be the only way to get out, from the scanners it looked like they were completely surrounded. If they took Voltron out then they could lure the fleet away, giving time for the Castle to move into a position from which they could wormhole away.

"It's too dangerous!"

"Allura's right," Shiro confirmed, "we can't take on Zarkon and his entire fleet. Remember what happened at the Command Center? We wouldn't have escaped if the Blade of Marmora hadn't shut down the shield."

**"Turbine's up!" **Coran informed appearing on the screen. **"But I'm still working on the worm—GAH!"** he screamed as he flipped, landing on his head before sliding across the floor.** "Uh guys, I think I'm realizing now that I do in fact have a case of the slipperies. I'm sorry I yelled at you, Pidge. I may need your help after all."**

"On my way!" she said darting out of her seat and off the bridge.

"Let's clear a path!" Shiro ordered as the Caslte moved out of the safety of its shelter.

"Lance! Fighter advancing on your nine!" Keith said shooting down several fighters giving chase.

"Thanks for the heads up! You've got one going for the lower barrier!"

"Good eye," Keith smirked shooting it down quickly before turning back to the main party.

"You're mine—What? Hey! I lost control of my drone!" Lance exclaimed.

"I've got you covered," Keith said turning to shoot only to have his controls fizzle away. "Uh, I don't got you. There must be a system failure."

**"Nope! That was us!" **Pidge called as Coran slid around screaming in the back. **"We're diverting power from all non-essential systems to get the wormhole generator working."**

"SHOOTING BAD GUYS IS PRETTY ESSENTIAL!" Lance protested.

"We've lost secondary controls. Thermal regulator's offline! And there goes the particle barrier!"

**"Try it now! We should be able to do one very small jump…I hope."**

"That doesn't sound good," Keith muttered.

Watching the scanners he grit his teeth, the fighters were getting closer by the second. "Wormhole's open!" Shiro called and Allura activated the thrusters, shoving the Castle through.

Slumping in his chair, Keith closed his eyes for a few seconds of reprive, only bothering to peek an eye open when they exited.

"Zarkon keeps finding us," Shiro breathed, "it's like he knows how to find us. Maybe he planeted somekind of tracker."

Allura typed on the monitor. "It's nothing on the ship. The Castle would've detected any tracking devices."

_"They could be using a different frequency. The metallic storm up ahead looks like it might be powerful enough to block any transmissions from whatever tracker the Galra are using to find us,"_ Yorak suggested and Keith gave a small nod.

"Until we find out how he's tracking us, we need to stay on alert, Zarkon could arrive at any second," Shiro ordered.

A loud snore sounded and Hunk burst to his feet looking pancked, "WHAT'S GOING ON!? WHO DID THAT?! WHAT'RE YOU GUYS DOING? WHERE ARE WE?"

"You woke yourself up snoring," Keith mumbled.

"My bad."

"Coran, what's our status?" Shiro asked pulling up a screen to where Pidge and Jaz were typing on the monitors and Coran was skating around the room.

**"Actually there's a bit of good news I'm finally getting used to these slipperies. My mucus glands are working at an incredible rate!"**

**"Coran, say one more thing about that and I will hurl on you,"** Jaz growled walking onto camera. **"I'm guessing Zarkon caught up again while I was out?"**

"Yeah, any news on the Teladuv?"

**"I'm afraid not. the last jump overloaded the lens stones. Now even more of them are broken. We're going to try some readjustments to change the beam trajectory."**

**"But we should warn you that there's a good chance that without temps or replacements we won't be wormholing anywhere,"** Jaz informed.

**"There's a giant metallic storm ahead, I think we can hide in the eye of that until the repairs are finished. It should give off enough interference so we can't be tracked,"** Pidge called. **"Also Hunk, run a scan with changing frequencies over the Castle, we might be able to find that tracker."**

"On it."

"The storm seems like our best bet," Shiro said nodding to Allura.

Getting the memo, she flew the Castle closer, keeping above the turbulence before descending into the calm eye. "Brilliant Pidge, we're essentially invisible to any radar, radio waves, universal scans, or any other know tracking technology," Allura praised.

The alarms blared around them and they looked up, spotting the hulking mass that was Zarkon's Command ship covering the top of the storm's eye.

"No!"

"Oh c'mon!"

**"How the quiznak did he find us?!"**

**"Not sure, but it definitely wasn't with normal instruments!"**

"The scanners aren't getting any trackers either!" Hunk called.

Allura looked down, "It's me. It's been me all along. That's how they found us on Arus," she whispered before they all grunted as the Castle shook with the impacts of the blaster fire.

"That doesn't matter Princess, we're in this together. We're going to get out together," Shiro stated.

"How? We're trapped!"

"We need to form Voltron and go through the storm."

_"Uh…did he just say through the storm?"_

"The storm?! Are you nuts?" Lance questioned.

"Yeah! Wha—What is—What do you mean?!" Hunk stammered. "Why would we do that?!"

"It's risky, I know. But it's our only chance. We have to go through the storm then lure Zarkon's ship away. Giving Allura some time to get into open space."

"Then what?"

"Then we wormhole away," he said looking towards those watching on the monitor. "Coran, you know how you said it was impossoble to get this Castle to wormhole? Well we need you to do the impossible."

**"I'll help out down here, I'm still pretty useless after using all my power like that,"** Jaz said shoving Pidge out. **"You all get to your lions we'll figure this out…maybe."**

-.-

Flying out and forming Voltron, they flew up towards the swarm flying above them. /Team! Let's draw these fighters out!/ Shiro ordered as the swerved to the side and dove into the storm.

"It's working! They're following us," Keith stated getting his bayard ready just in case. Watching the scanner he smirked as the ships began to explode as the rocks and other various debris slammed into them. "They can't follow us in this storm! It's tearing them apart!"

/The debris!/ Hunk exclaimed sounding a little sick as Voltron balked, ducked, and looped over and past the debris. /It's gonna tear us apart if we don't do something!/

/Pidge, we're gonna need that shield/ Shiro ordered.

/On it/

/And Keith, sword!/

"Yes sir," he replied slamming his bayard in and slicing through a large asteroid as it was about to slam into them as the storm continued to blow them around aimlessly.

/Legs! I need everything you've got!/

/Roger! Engaging lower trusters!/

/I'm right there with ya!/

Stabilizing, Voltron flew upwards, out of the storm and into open space where they saw the command ship hovering over the entrance they had been hiding in.

_"That's a big ship,"_ Yorak remarked, _"not as big as the Dreadnaught, but still big."_

Keith snorted, "No kidding."

_"It's coming for us."_

Keith made a sound of affirmation as Voltron turned and began flying the opposite direction, getting the command ship to follow in order for the Castle to get out.

/It worked! They escaped!/ Hunk said a few moments later.

And then the familiar dark feeling that had enveloped them back at Central Commander returned and the lions were unable to move.

"What's going on?" Keith growled through the pain as he tried to keep his part of the bond from falling apart, hoping the others were managing as well as he was.

/My lion!/ Hunk called.

Shiro groaned, sounding like he was in a lot of pain, he probably had to be, if Zarkon was the original Black Paladin, he was probably trying to wrench control away from right under him. Getting bonds broken was not a pleasant experience. /…Zarkon…he's seeking control of the Black Lion again! Fall back!/

Activating thrusters, they tried getting away, but the dark pressure only grew, Keith could feel it, the bonds were starting to unravel. They'd be separated within a matter of moments and it would be the Central Command mission all over again.

The pain ceased as explosions rocked the ship around them and the darkness receded. /PALADINS! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE! GET OUT OF THERE!/ Allura ordered as the Castle, now seeming pathetically small compared to the Galran ship zipped around it firing lasers and larger blasts.

Activating the thrusters, they shot away from the ship, putting distance between Voltron and Zarkon. /I forgot how strong Zarkon's connection to the Black Lion is/ Shiro murmured, /We need to keep our distance or risk losing Voltron. Disband and return to the Castle/

Nodding, Keith pulled out of the bond as the others did the same, returning to just original lions before shooting back into their hangars as the Castle flew away.

Sitting in Red, Keith checked the scanners and frowned, there wasn't a wormhole. "Why aren't we wormholing away?"

/We can't!/ Jaz exclaimed popping up in front of Coran on the monitor. /Didn't you hear earlier? We said there was a strong chance we wouldn't be able to!/

/We're missing several scaultrite lens-stones/ Coran added, /they're shattered! Gone! Don't exist! Solven'dai ho! That's Altean for gone/

/So unless you can make some, we're stuck/

/Scaultrite?/ Pidge asked. "I've seen somewhere before…I think Hunk was making some terrible cookies from that stuff!/

Keith grimaced, hopefully Hunk didn't try eating any of them. /Why on the Tangled Shore would you make cookies with scaultrite? Do you know where it comes from?/ Jaz gagged.

Rushing out of their hangars they met in the engine room with Coran as Jaz raced in with the cookies. Putting them under a scanner, Coran's eyes widened. "Unbelievable! These cookies do have trace elements of scaultrite," he said.

"Will they work?" Shiro asked.

"Might be able to hold for one jump. But we still need several people holding them."

"Good news is we already have people wearing protective gear to do it," Jaz smirked looking at them.

Before they knew it, they were inside the teladuv in various positions as Coran and Jaz placed the lenses in their hands moving their arms and legs as needed. Shiro was the only one standing straight up near the middle of the tube holding two lenses, Lance was somehow was hanging upside-down holding two lenses, Keith got lucky and was hanging from the upper left corner only holding one lens as he used his remaining arm and legs to keep balance, Pidge was standing on an angle holding to lenses, and Hunk was lying on the groun holding a lens in his hands and another between hs feet.

"It just warms my heart that people are enjoying my cookies," the Yellow Paladin smiled.

"Glad to hear that, but please, look for a translator next time," Jaz sighed rubbing her forehead. "Oh yeah! If you guys want to live, stay exactly as you are, because if you move even like a millimeter you'll die a horrible and painful death!"

"Rah Zu'u hind ful [God I hope so]," Shiro grumbled.

"I HEARD THAT!"

A blast rocked the Castle and Lance began panicking, "I THINK I MOVED! I THINK I MOVED!"

"Move back to where you think you were!" Coran called.

"We're gonna monitor the beam from out there," Jaz said as they began leaving the area.

"Wait! How dangerous is this?!" Hunk called.

"Honestly, this is the most dangerous thing I've ever seen or heard of," Coran stated grimly, "but since we're probably going to die anyways WHAT THE HECK! LET'S GIVE IT A SHOT!" he made a salute as the door started closing, "Goodluck gentlemen, and gentlelady, it's been a pleasure. Don't touch the lasers!"

As the door closed they heard Jaz humming a funeral march.

The darkness didn't last long as the teladuv began activating.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Lance chanted.

"Hold tight Lance!" Pidge called.

The lasers fired, almost drowning out the sounds of the Blue Paladin's screams before they died out once hitting the lasers.

**/IT'S NOT WORKING!/ **Coran screamed as the doors opened.

"Why isn't it working, all the calculations are correct," Jaz hissed typing quickly looking for an error.

"The stones aren't reflecting properly, I need something to shine them up!" he replied wiping his forehead. "Wait a tick! I think I've got it! Activate the wormhole in ten ticks! Jaz close the door!"

"What?!" she questioned as he skated into the tube.

**"Ten."**

"What's happening?" Shiro asked as Coran slid pasted him to the end of the hole.

**"Nine."**

"Nobody move! I've gotta shine these stones!" he replied wrapping his arms around himself and pulling up a large concentration of slick liquid. "Good thing I've got a case of the slipperies!"

**"Eight."**

Coran shined Shiro's stones.

**"Seven."**

He quickly wiped over Lance's before moving to Keith.

**"Six."**

**"Five."**

Rushing to Pidge, he started shining her stones.

**"Four."**

**"Three."**

Coran got to Hunk, starting to clean the first stone.

**"Two."**

Looking to the next stone, Coran glanced at the activating machine, before shooting across the gap, wiping his sweaty face over the stone and diving into the small opening between he stones.

**"One!"**

Lasers shot out and began bouncing between the stones and the screaming paladins as the wormhole opened and everything went white.

-.-

"AWESOME!" Jaz cheered as they opened the doors.

"Great work team, we made it," Allura prasied before they saw everyone smoking.

"So that's why it smelled like barbecue," Jaz muttered crossing her arms as Lance fell to the ground.


	18. Burdens to Bear

Chapter 18

**A/N: alright! Onto the next chapter! As always, I just own this story and my OCs, that's it.**

**/comm/**

**"Bold is intercom."**

**_Flashback or ghost talking privayely with their Guardian or dreams cause I guess they count as a kind of flashback?_**

"There's no point in debating this further," Allura stated firmly, Zarkon is clearly tracking us through me."

"Aw, space baloney."

"That's not possible."

"Why would that be so hard to believe?" Allura questioned, silencing everyone. "Zarkon's forces showed up on Arus only after I awoke."

"She has a point," Lance frowned before putting on a smile and bowing, "I would absolutely travel across the galaxy to find you."

"Think about how they found us when we first got to Arus in the Blue Lion," Jaz pointed out leaning against the wall near Keith, "whose to say that wasn't the test run of whatever they're using to track us now."

"They would've found us more often before that then," Shio stated.

"Maybe, unless it was only perfected by the time we reached Central Command," Pidge pointed out.

"But we would've found a tracker through all the scans," Hunk reminded.

"Touche."

"It has to be me, there's no other explanation," Allura stated hugging her knees.

"It's not you Allura," Keith said crossing is arms, "I'm pretty sure it might be me, I was the only one to have direct contact with Zarkon. He might've done something to me during our battle."

"The fact is we don't know how Zarkon's tracking us," Katie huffed. "It could be through the Black Lion. Everytime Zarkon gets close to it Shiro has to fight him for control."

"Hm, you've gotta point there, he was the original Black Paladin," Jaz nodded, "that bond could still be there."

"That's only when Zarkon's nearby," Coran remarked. "No one has ever been able to connect with a lion over a vast distance."

"So what're we gonna do?"

Shiro sighed, "Look, it doesn't matter how he's tracking us because we're gonna take the fight to the Galra soon enough. They've been chasing us from galaxy to galaxy, the last thing they'll expect is for us to come after them."

"The hunter becomes the hunted, hmm? Awesome!" Lance grinned. "That's a tag line from like six of my favorite movies."

"After our stunt with Zarkon's command station, they might be anticipating anything," Jaz reminded.

"As it happens, I took our list of recent Galra attacks and analyzed it for commonalities and anomalies among the attack sites," Pidge said sitting doen as she began typing. "I was hoping to create an algorithm that would—withing a statisctically acceptable margin of error—provide a list of target-rich Galra environments—color-coded of course, because what are we, animals?"

As she finished a holo-map appeared around them and planets began to turn red.

"It's a Galra finder?" Hunk questioned.

"Finder suggests that it locates the Galra. It would be more accurate to say that my model predicts their likeliest…" she trailed off as she saw everyone looking at her confused. "Fine, it's a Galra finder."

"So where are the Galra?"

Pidge began typing and a blue ring appeared around a red planet. "The nearest ones are right here. A planet called Taujeer."

"Then that's where we're headed," Shiro stated. "Everyone get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll find that fleet and take it out."

Everyone began to walk out before Jaz grabbed Keith by the collar of his jacket as she and Shiro stood behind him like parents catching their child doing something wrong—at least Jaz was, Shiro actually looked concerned.

"Is everything ok?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"You just…" he trailed off thinking of his next words carefully, "seem a bit anxious."

"What're you hiding?"

"I'm fine," Keith said forcing a small smile, "just tired. It's been a long few days. I just probably need some sleep." Turning he walked out of the bridge, ignoring the worried gazes boring into his back as he left.

"He's lying," Jaz muttered and Shiro raised an eyebrow, looking at her skeptically.

"What makes you say that?"

"Takashi, you know him as well as I do."

Shiro sighed, slumping his shoulders, he really was hoping that Keith was just tired, but his behavior suggested otherwise. He'd been pulling away, just like he used to when Shiro first took him under his wing, and that only happened when something was bothering him a lot. "I'm sure he'll tell us given time."

Jaz merely raised a brow.

"You don't agree?"

"Something tells me this is something he's trying to keep internalized," she said taking a step forwards and Shiro put a hand on her shoulder.

"Jaz, just give him some time. We can figure it out in the morning if you're so sure," Shiro said giving her some leeway. He really didn't want to pressure Keith; he hated to do it, especially when the younger man had a tendency to blow up when pressed too much. However, Shiro had to admit Jaz held a point. They'd known each other since childhood, so it made sense Jaz knew more about a few of Keith's odd quirks. Jaz hadn't led him wrong in helping raise his little brother yet. "Trust me, it'll be fine."

"I certainly hope so."

-.-

_Keith sat on his bed looking at his blade, the glowing symbol cutting through the dark like a sign announcing its presence. Hearing an alarm, he raced to his lion, driving through the tunnels to Red on his speeder. _

_The elevator ride went slowly, but Keith couldn't help but notice how the light changed from a comforting familiar red to deep violet, the same color as the symbol on his knife. Getting up he stopped seeing his lion's eyes._

_Red's eyes were supposed to be like golden embers, her eyes were not supposed to be violet. Her burning gaze locked with his and, she got up a deep growl echoing around him. Something was wrong._

_"Red? What's the matter? It's me."_

_She roared and lunged at him. Violet eyes snapped shut as Keith braced himself, only…he didn't feel any pain. The sound of footsteps began to reverberate around him, and he lowered his arms finding himself surrounded by Galra sentries marching by. _

_Scrambling back, Keith held his knife in a defensive position, waiting for the attack. But it never came._

_Violet light rolled off his blade, and Keith looked down at himself, biting back a cry of horror. He was in Galra armor, the light of his knife flashed and Keith looked down seeing a pair of glowing eyes looking back at him._

**_"I can find you anywhere,"_**_ Zarkon said. __**"Do you really believe they'll let a monster like you be a Paladin? Especially after they figure out what you know is true?"**_

_Keith couldn't move, everything turned dark and then he could see Hunk and Lance looking at him in horror, shielding Katie with their bodies. "I knew we could never trust you," Lance growled aiming his bayard at Keith._

_"You lied to us," Hunk said stepping away looking scared, holding Pidge protectively._

_"What did you do to my family?!" Pidge hollered at him, rage burning in her amber eyes as tears stremed down her face._

_"No! No! I'm not with them!" he called as Allura and Coran appeared nearby, the Princess looking murderous. _

_"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO BE WITH US! TO PILOT A LION OF VOLTRON!" she screamed._

_"Allura! I—!"_

_"Get away from us!" the advisor snapped getting between them._

_Another light appeared and Keith gulped, a heavy weight settling in his gut, there were only two people missing now. Licking his dry lips, Keith slowly turned to see Jaz and Shiro looking at him._

_They looked terrified._

_His brother, his best friend, they were afraid of him. _

_"You—you were with them this whole time?" Shiro stuttered._

_"No! Shiro please! Listen to me!" he called._

_"Why should we?!" Jaz sneered her brilliant blue-gold eyes blazing with fury. "You're a traitor! A disgrace!"_

_"Jaz! Please! I'm not with them!" he cried out putting his hand against the blue glass that now was in his way. Looking around, Keith paled, he was in a pod, like Sendak. Traveler…they were…they were going to eject him into space. _

_He was crying now, of that Keith was sure as he pounded away on the glass as hard as he could, but it wouldn't give. He wasn't with the Galra! He didn't know why his father had the knife, for all he knew it could be a trophy from combat; he'd brought Keith trophies before. Or it was something he bought at the market from one of the weapons vendors. They had to understand that he had no idea why it was with him. He wasn't with the empire!_

_"Shiro! Please, you know me. I promise I would never betray you!" he pleaded with the man that had his back turned to him._

_"Then why didn't you free us from Kerberos?" his cold voice echoed. "You had the resources and you left us. A real brother wouldn't do that."_

_"I didn't know who it was Shiro! I didn't know it was the Galra."_

_"Your knife says otherwise," Jaz hissed. "You sold us out!"_

_"They were right," Shiro murmured and Keith's heart dropped, "you really are a demon."_

_Jaz sneered as her hand glowed, "And you know how we handle demons."_

_Then everything exploded into white-hot agony._

Keith shot up gasping for air, his hands gripping the hilt of his knife with white knuckles.

"Keith?" Yorak asked his eye blinking on as he looked at his Guardian before floating and nuzzling himself into Keith's cheek to offer comfort from whatever bothered him. The ghost was worried, it'd been a while since he'd seen Keith like this, scared, shaking, searching for any form of comfort he could get while refusing to burden others with his problems.

Something wet, dripped onto his shell and he glanced up, Keith was…Keith was crying. His guardian hardly ever cried, the last time he'd seen Keith cry was in their first foster home after he'd been beaten for standing up to a bully picking on another kid at school.

Yorak nudged closer to Keith, burying himself between his cheek and shoulder, he knew Keith felt more relaxed if he was close, maybe this would calm him down. "What happened? Bad dream?"

Keith didn't answer, but Yorak glanced at the knife, curse the Captain and his stupid promises. "It was about the blade? Wasn't it?"

Keith nodded, pulling his cheek off and standing up. "We should go, it's too dangerous for me to be here."

Yorak balked, watching as his Guardian grabbed a duffel to pack supplies. "Do you think they're going to do something?"

"Zarkon's tracking me somehow, might be through that wizard we fought, I can't lead him to everyone," Keith stated coldly as he put on a set of Guardian armor and they snuck to the kitchen, grabbing some supplies.

"Are we really certain it's through you?"

Keith's shoulders slumped and he shook his head. "I don't know, but the odds aren't in my favor. I fought with a wizard and unlike Shiro I absorbed the magic and healed my own wounds before anyone found out. I also fought Zarkon alone and absorbed the darkness poisoning Shiro. That's three chances for there to be a tracking spell or something to be put on me."

Rushing down to the hangar, Keith began sorting through his inventory figuring out which ship would be best to use. The door hissed open behind him, forcing him to duck behind a nearby pod. Letting his ghost hide, Keith peered around, his gaze quickly settling on the form of Princess Allura.

"Princess what're you doing here?" he asked and she yelped in shock, falling back into his arms before jumping out blushing.

"I might ask you the same thing."

"Nothing. Just walking," he said, "late at night…near the pods."

"In full armor with a bag of your belongings?" she pointed out and he grimaced before sighing in defeat.

"I have to know if Zarkon's tracking me. This is the only way, don't try to stop me."

"I'm not going to stop you," she said and Keith felt a rush of relief, "I'm going to join you."

And his relief was gone.

-.-

"Keith?" Jaz called knocking on the Red Paladin's door. "You in there?"

Not getting a response, she frowned, Keith normally would've responded to her, or at least Yorak would if the Guardian wasn't feeling particularly talkative. That fact that he wasn't answering was concerning, especially after how he'd been last night. Jaz had never seen Keith get scared, unsettled definitely, but last night he looked afraid and that worried her.

"Keith, open up!" she demanded knocking harder knowing the volume would wake one of them if both Guardian and ghost were still resting.

Scowling, Jaz pried the emergency panel open, typing in the master code she stole from Coran. The door swished open, and she walked into…an empty room? "Keith? Yorak?" she questioned tapping on the bathroom door, before opening it to see it empty.

Turning back to the bed, her brows furrowed in confusion, the bed was made. To most that wouldn't seem odd, but Keith had never been the tidiest of people. _"No point in making it when I'll just mess it up again at night,"_ was what he always answered with when the officers at the Garrison got on him about it.

Something began to gnaw at her gut and Jaz jogged out of the room, heading for the training deck, Keith probably fell asleep there again, that was it. Coran probably made the bed whenever he'd been tidying things up.

Turning a corner, she slammed into the wall of muscle that was Shiro. Taking a few steps back, she rubbed her nose glaring at him accusingly as he smiled. "Hunk already kicked Lance and Pidge out of the kitchen, your portion of food is safe."

She would have to thank the Yellow Paladin later.

"Have you seen Keith?"

Shiro blinked in surprise before sighing as the memory of last night's conversation came to him, "Jaz, maybe we should wait a bit, trying to force it out of him will only make him close up on us," he said. "You were the one who told Adam and I that."

"I know, I know, but have you seen him?" she said and there must've been something in her tone because Shiro's expression morphed from exasperated friend to over-protective older brother in a heartbeat.

"No. Why? What's going on?"

"Keith wasn't in his room this morning; the bed was made."

Shiro's eyebrows rose at the statement. If anyone knew Keith's habits almost as well as she did, it would be Shiro. "Where else have you checked?"

"I'm on my way to the training deck now."

Shiro nodded, "Check the observation deck after that, I'll check the library and Red's hangar."

Nodding, Jaz and Shiro separated running in opposite directions as they searched for the ever-elusive Red Paladin. Jaz opened the door to the training deck, frowning when she saw it was empty, Keith didn't even leave his jacket or a waterbottle which would suggest he was training.

Gritting her teeth, she turned and ran towards the obersvation deck, going past a very confused Hunk in the process. Storming in, she found Pidge and Lance playing a card game, but no Keith.

"Hey Jaz, you wanna play?" Lance asked waving.

She shook her head. "No thanks, have either of you seen Keith?"

"No, did you check the training deck?" Lance said raising an eyebrow. "I swear to God he lives there."

"Already did, he's not there."

"His room?"

"Not there either."

Pidge tapped her chin in thought. "What about Red?"

"No," Shiro said walking in almost making Jaz jump, dang he could be quiet when he needed to be, "he's not in the library either."

"…The bathroom?"

"I'm not checking there," Shiro said crossing his arms with a flush on his cheeks as Jaz snorted remembering the last time Shiro went looking for someone and decided to check the bathroom.

"Has anyone checked the bridge?" Lance suggested and Jaz smacked her forehead.

Going up to the bridge, they walked in to see Coran on the monitor, but no Keith. "We should be entering Taujeer's orbit soon."

"Raise the particle barrier and scan for Galra," Shiro ordered as they walked to their seats. "Coran, you haven't seen Keith around have you?"

"Where's Allura?" Lance asked.

"I don't know, I haven't seen either of them all morning," Coran stated typing on his monitor. "It appears one of the pods launched in the middle of the night."

"Wait a dobash, Keith and Allura? In the middle of the night?" Lance questioned looking skeptical. "You don't think they're sitting in a tree?"

"Wonder who made the first move?" Jaz grinned as Lance squawked.

"Contact that pod," Shiro ordered.

"YES! CONTACT THAT POD!"

-.-

Keith sat in the pilot's seat quietly driving the pod far from the Castle, the ride had been quiet, awkwardly so. It wasn't like he and Allura knew each other very well so neither of them were sure how to start the conversation.

A notification appeared on the dash and they glanced at each other. "Should we answer?" Allura questioned sounding nervous. Before he could answer, the Altean Princess tentatively reached out and tapped the monitor, answering the incoming hail.

/Keith! Princess! Where are you?!/ Coran exclaimed.

"Exactly where we should be, far away from the Castle."

/What? Why?/ Shiro questioned.

/What in the Tangled Shore do you two think you're doing?!/ Jaz exclaimed.

"We must know if we are the ones Zarkon is tracking."

/They're isolating the variables/ Pidge realized, /well, two variables/

/English please/

/In order to test a hypothesis—/

/I said English!/

/NEVERMIND/

"Pidge is right, if Zarkon finds you despite our absence then we know with total certainty that we are not the ones he's tracking."

/Splitting up the group makes us far more vulnerable/ Shiro said. /Come back to the Castle, immediately/

"I'm sorry Shiro, we can't do that."

Keith nodded in agreement, "If Zarkon does find us, I can pilot us to safety. We're in wide open space with plenty of room to maneuver. Plus with the added booster rocket Pidge added we could outrun them."

/That thing's still on there?/ Coran grumbled.

/We need both of you back here now!/ Shiro said again before everyone started shouting.

Keith felt his stomach drop. Were he and Allura wrong afterall? Was Zarkon using something else to track them? "What's going on?!"

/We're in some sort of debris field/ Hunk replied.

"Oh."

/I think it's coming from Taujeer!/ Coran stated. /Correct that! It is Taujeer!/

"Coran what's going on?!" Allura demanded only for them to look at each other as the comms cut. "Coran?!"

"Sounds like interference," Keith growled trying to get the comms to work again.

"Are you sure they aren't in danger?" Allura questioned looking rather guilty now. "Maybe we should go back."

Keith shook his head, "They said they just flew into a debris field, they haven't run into any Galra yet. What if we go back prematurely and just get jumped by Zarkon again? We still wouldn't know who or what he's tracking."

The Princess pressed her lip into a thin line for a moment before nodding, looking out into space. "Keith…what are we going to do if Zarkon finds us? I know you can fly us to safety, but how will we know who specifically?"

Damn, he hadn't thought of that. "We wouldn't be able to go back to the Castle until we knew who it was for certain."

"You mean splitting up?" Allura breathed.

"Not far, probably on the same planet this way we could still reach the pod. Zarkon would send his forces in the direction of his target."

"But what then? The person he's tracking could never go back to the Castle without putting the others at risk."

"I'm sure we could find a way to block it," Keith replied, not sounding too certain himself.

Allura nodded, going quiet for a minute, "What makes you think Zarkon is tracking you?"

"…Back at the Universal Station, I fought something—think Shiro referred to them as Druids—anyways, it managed to hit me with a lightning blast that healed up way too fast," he said covering for his own natural abilities. "Then I fought in close combat with Zarkon. Both were opportunities for them to do something to me, it didn't cross my mind till we started getting tracked around every moon."

Allura nodded, his answer made sense, and if Keith really had been attacked by a Druid then there wasn't any telling on what the blast did to him now that the damage was long gone. "I was just thinking how the Galra found us when you arrived at the Castle. It's possible my energy led them to us."

"They could've been tracking the Blue Lion?" Keith offered, "They hadn't found us since until recently."

He had a point. "However, like you I encountered one of these Druids," Allura stated, "and Zarkon."

Keith grew quiet, she had two chances to get exposed to something just like he did. So the question of who was most likely being tracked was still up in the air.

"Tell me, what is Earth like?"

-.-

"That's Taujeer?" Jaz said looking at the glowing green planet that appeared to be losing its outer crust.

"We've lost contact with Allura and Keith," Coran stated typing on the monitor, "some kind of radiation's interefering with communications."

"Move the Castle away and reestablish the link," Shiro ordered. "Everyone else, get to your lions."

Flying out the four lions flew towards the crumbling planet, weaing through the debris field. Landing near what appeared to be a ship they looked around, checking their scanners.

/I don't see any Galra/ Hunk remarked.

/Looks like that fancy Galra finder doesn't work/ Lance grumbled, /Nice try Pidge/

Shaking his head, Shiro looked out to see someone running towards the lions, zooming in he saw as it appeared to be one of the natives. Opening his comms to the others, Shiro ran outside meeting with them.

"Thank goodness you're here! I am Baujal, leader of the Taujeerians," the large grey alien introduced themselves. "The Galran just destroyed our ship's engines and left."

/So the Galra we here Lance/ Pidge snickered.

"They've taken everything, we must get everyone off the planet before it dissolves completely," Baujal stated and Shiro frowned, dissolved? It was possible for a planet to just completely dissolve?! "Please help us!"

"How long do we have?" he questioned looking at the ship. If they had all five lions they could form Voltron and lift it out, he wasn't so sure that was possible with four.

The ground rumbled and Shiro turned watching more of the ground break away as more of the steaming bile-colored liquid erupted.

/Not long!/

"How did this happen?"

"We've known for years that our planet would eventually lose its outer layer," Baujal explained.

/Like a snake shedding its skin?!/ Lance called sounding grossed out.

/That doesn't sound so bad/ Hunk commented /Beneath that old skin's a new healthy layer right?/

Another explosion went off and Shiro and Baujal stepped back as some of the droplets flew at them, dissolving the ground they landed on. /Nope, the next layer is hot acid/

"The plan was to evacuate the population to our nearest moon, where we have build a colony to ait out the shedding process. So we relocated to higher ground and constructed that ark."

"What happened?"

"The Galra attacked, led by a vile commander named Morvok," the alien growled. "He robbed us of vital resources and left us with only one operational engine, stranding us here."

Shiro nodded, one engine, they could work wih that. Maybe with a lion supporting on each side they could carry the ship into orbit and get it to the moon without forming Voltron. "You're not stranded anymore. We'll save your people."

"I believe you, for I have heard many legends of the valor of Voltron. Five brave Paladins dedicated to…wait…I count only four of you. Are you not Voltron?"

/Uh…almost?/

"Where's the fifth Paladin?"

As much as Shiro loved Keith, he was going to throttle his little brother for this later. "He's on another assignment currently, but we can still help," Shiro reassured.

"I would feel more comfortable with all five Paladins."

Shiro would too, but the fifth Paladin had to take off in the middle of the night with the Princess to test something that might not be true. "Duly noted. Pidge, Hunk, take a look at the ark and see what were dealing with."

/Piece of cake, we'll get it flying in no time/ he answered. Another earthquake shook the ground and they watched as the ark disconnected from its supports, slamming to the ground. /…Would you settle for upright?/

This day could not get any worse.

-.-

"We've been here for hours, still no sign of Zarkon," Keith mumbled checking the scanner again. Maybe they were wrong after all and he was tracking them another way. From Yorak's calculations Zarkon should've found them by now if they were the ones being tracked.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to wait here alone," Allura said. "You understand, I could never live with myself if Zarkon was finding us because of me. I must know, we face such a dire threat from the Galra."

Keith glanced away at that. He could see what Jaz meant by Allura seeming angry towards all Galra, if his suspiscions were right, then he'd _maybe_ fall into the category. "I'm not saying the Galra aren't bad, they definitely are, but couldn't a few of them be fighting for good? Just look at Ulaz; he sacrificed himself to save us."

"For all we know his sacrifice was a ploy," Allura scoffed. "One life means nothing to Zarkon."

"That might be true, for Zarkon. It means something more me! It means some of them are actually willing to help us! We could use all the help we can get. Why would Zarkon make this so elaborate?! He had us trapped back at central command, why let us leave only to trap us later? These guys could really be trying to help us!"

Allura crossed her arms, a scowl appearing on her face. "Any offer of help from the Galra is just merely a prelude to a trap. I know all too well how quickly they turn."

"It seems crazy to lump everyone together," Keith stated.

"Listen, if there are any good Galra, they've had ten thousand years to take down Zarkon. I would never count on a Galra for help!"

"You know, many people used to think the same way about the Eliksni," Keith grumbled.

"And how are those pirates relevant to the Galra?" Allura growled.

"Because, where I come from we didn't get along. We massacured each other for eons! Heck I've killed plenty myself, but I happen to be friends with several of the good ones. In fact, I've fought along side them sometimes in battles against their own," he snarled back. "Still think everything's as black and white as it appears?"

-.-

/Assuming we can get it back up, the repairs are still going to take some time/ Pidge said.

/Which appears to be the one thing we don't have/

"We need to slow down the shedding," Shiro said looking over the cracks.

/How to you stop a planet from falling apart at the seams?/

/By sewing it back together!/ Hunk answered.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked, maybe they were finally onto something here.

/Tha new Green Lion weapon causes vegiation to grow right? Well, I was thinking if you aim it at the cracks in the planet the vines could act like sitches/

"Won't they get dissolved by the acid?"

/They might hold together longer of they were frozen/ Pidge added.

"It's a plan," Shiro said. "Hunk, you and I will use our lions to get this ark upright. Pidge, Lance, you two buy us some time and keep sticthcing the crust back together."

Following his orders, the Blue and Green Lions flew out, starting to patch up the fracturing ground as Shiro and Hunk started moving the pillars that had one been holding the ark.

/My side's clear Shiro!/ Hunk called.

"Almost done," he grunted pushing the last one over.

/Yes! It worked."

"It won't hold forever. Keep going," he ordered driving Black under the ark. As he and Hunk pushed up, Shiro could feel the strain this was having on Black, the lion wasn't meant for moving heavy objects like Yellow. "Hunk! Give it all you've got!"

If only they had one more lion. Then this woundn't be as difficult nor would as much strain would be pressed onto the Black and Yellow lions.

Catching something moving out of the corner of his eye, Shiro glanced out the window only to brace himself as he watched the cracking ground explode and white light erupt beside him. The light faded, Shiro was relieved to find himself alive, not be dying a horribly agonizing death, and to see ice covering the cracks the had been spreading towards them.

/We got your back!/

"Thanks. Hunk, let's get started on those engines."

-.-

"So what are we going to do if Zarkon finds us?" Keith questioned breaking the tense silence that had settled over them since their argument."

"You said you could pilot us to safety. Why are you concerned about this?" Allura questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Who would pilot the Castle or create wormholes?" he relied back. "Jaz can for a little while but the Castle is connected to you specifically."

"Well what about you?" she scoffed. "Without you the team cannot for Voltron."

"I'm pretty sure it's easier to replace _me_."

-.-

"Well, it ain't pretty but it should get you airborne," Hunk said putting his bayard away once he finished welding the engines to the ship.

Another earthquake hit and they all crouched as more of the surface broke away. "Just in time," Shiro breathed. Running back to their lions, Shiro climbed in Black and nervously watched praying their work would be enough to lift the ship off the ground. If that engine didn't work, then Shiro wasn't sure—even with the Lions' help—that they'd be able to evacuate everyone in time.

The engine of the ark appeared to sputter for a moment as it activated, but to his relief it ignited and the ship began lifting off the ground without the help of the lions. Maybe they could get this done, Shiro throught optimistically.

On the other side of the ark there was an explosion and the ship went down as the engine failed.

/What was that?/ Pidge questioned as they all looked around.

Shiro frowned gazing up at the warship, seems today was just going to be full of problems. "The Galra. They're back."

The cannons on the ship fired again, razing the ground next to the ark and exposing the acid under the surface.

"Hunk! Take the Yellow Lion and hold it up! we can't let it fall into that acid!" Shiro ordered as Black flew up into the air towards the warship.

/No to mention the guy beneath them, which would be me in this particular scenario!/

/This is not the time for your mutinous protests Hunk!/ Jaz snapped.

"Lance! Pidge! We have to draw the cruiser's fire. Coran, Jaz, we need you here now! Attack that cruiser!"

/Already ahead of you!/ Jaz called and Shiro saw a brilliant blue blast of one of her magic attacks slam into the shield protecting the ion cannon, breaking through it.

Shiro made a note to hit that first.

-.-

/Keith! Allura! Are you there?/ Coran called sounding panicked.

"We're here Coran. What is it?" Allura inquired.

/Zarkon's not tracking either of you!/ he informed.

Keith could barely hide the relief that swept through him, but…how did they figure…oh quiznak.

"How do you know?"

/Because you're out there and there's a Galra fleet here!/ Jaz replied. /GET OVER HERE!/

"On our way!" Keith acknowledged turning on the engines and turning the pod around.

"We'll be there in two dobashes."

"Even faster than that," Keith said pulling up the controls and going to the booster setting.

"What's that?"

"Booster fuel Pidge added to this pod," he informed.

_"Keith! Wait!"_ Yorak protested as he pressed the button and they were ejected as the pod blew up. _"I tried to warn you."_

"You could've done it sooner," Keith grunted stabilizing himself and flying towards Allura. "Allura! Grab my hand!" Reaching out, he grasped her hand tightly as they began spinning. Moving his body, he turned on his jetpack the opposite way, slowing them down to a stop. "You alright?"

"I believe so," she nodded. "Is your radio still working?"

"Let's see," he said opening a comm-channel. "Coran, can you hear me?"

After a moment of static, Yorak spoke up, _"We don't have the range. Comms will get us nowhere."_

"Comms are down," Keith informed, "It'll take forever to reach them at this rate."

"This was a terrible mistake! Shiro was right, we never should have left," Allura said berating herself.

"At least now we're closer to figuring out what Zarkon is using to track us," Keith replied, hoping he sounded reassuring. Closing his eyes, he called out for Red, maybe, just maybe, she'd hear him and come to help.

-.-

Shiro dove under the incoming fire, activating Black's cannon, the beam hit the side of the ship, carving a path in the thick hull. Pulling back, he watched Lance freeze some of the cannons over as Pidge used her jawblade to take out several cannons on the other side.

/Incoming!/ Jaz called and all three pulled back as another of her attacks hit, making one of the engines explode.

/Nice shot! You took out an engine!/ Pidge called whipping around the back and attamepting to use her vines to plug one of the others.

/Yeah, but focus on that ion cannon! I took the shield down for you!/ the Awoken reminded.

/In case you haven't noticed we've been a little busy down here!/ Lance snapped diving back down toards the ark to cover a forming crack with ice.

/Ion cannon's being aimed at the ark!/ Jaz warned.

"Lance! Pidge! Attack with jablades!" Shiro ordered pulling Black up towards the cannon as he could see a shield materializing between then ark and them, Jaz's handiwork most likely.

Hopefully he could take it down before she ran out of power.

The jawblade formed and Shiro drve it into the side of the cannon, atching as the beam was moved away from the target due to his impact before it was deflected off Jaz's shield.

/Guys! The stitches are coming undone!/ Hunk called.

Glancing down, Shiro could see what he meant. The ice was dissolving away as the acid began seeping through, and the surface started breaking away again, leaving less and less land for the ark to stay on.

/Go you covered!/ Lance called diving down and blasting the debris flying towards the ship away before joining Pidge in trying to make temporary patches.

They didn't have long before they needed to rejoin the fight as the cruiser began firing with more of its weapons, having to split their attention between avoiding getting hit and protecting the ark from debris as Shiro attacked the ship from the sides. Coming out fron under it, Shiro gripped the controls tighter as he felt the blast from another explosion as the Castle began attacking from above.

"Way to go Coran! Hunk! What's your status?!"

/Mostly just trying not to fall into a bubbling pot of acid/ he replied.

"Jaz? What about you?"

/As long as I don't make anymore attacks I should be able to hold the shield/ she answered, though Shiro could hear a slight strain in her voice. It wouldn't be long before she'd start running on reserves.

The Galra ship began firing up at the Castle and fighters came out.

/We're getting overhelmed!/

/We need Voltron!/

/Coran! Where are you going?!/ Jaz demanded.

"What's going on?!" Shiro called.

/Coran! He just walked off!/

/I'm going to pilot the Red Lion!/

"Can you do that?" Shiro question using Black's jaws to bite down on a fighter before tossing it into the ion cannon; hopefully that would do more damage.

/I don't know, Red's pretty picky/ Jaz remarked.

/No kidding!/ Lance called flyng past Shiro with a fighter on his tail.

"Lance! I've got the one on your six!"

/Thanks! Three-o-clock!/ the Blue Paladin called firing at the fighter coming at him.

"Thanks."

/Uh…ok? Guys, the Red Lion ran away/ Coran said and Shiro almost crashed into the side of the cruiser.

"It what?"

/The Red Lion's flying off right now/ Jaz stated. /Pidge! We've got another crack forming towards the ark! Patch it up! Shiro! I see an opening near the back of the ion cannon/

"Thanks, Jaz," Shiro called flying through the fray and driving the jawblade into the back of the cannon.

/I can't hold it any longer!/ Hunk groaned.

"Hunk you have to! If you let go the Taujeerians will die!" Shiro called.

He heard Hunk yell over the comms and Yellow roared, loudly.

"Are you alright?!" Shiro called, trying to get a view of Yellow, praying to God that he didn't just condemn Hunk to death by acid.

/Oh! Whoa! I've got armor claws!/ Hunk called sounding a little happier. Shiro slumped in relief. He must've unlocked Yellow's specialized weapon; leaving just him to figure out Black's. /Alright, I can keep this from falling any further, but I need your help to get it back up!/

/Coran and I got you covered/ Jaz said.

"On our way!" Shiro nodded and he flew down with Green and Blue. Landing near Yellow, the two bigger lions began pushing from the ground as Blue and Green started pushing further up the hull.

-.-

"Keith! Keith look!" Allura exclaimed excitedly tapping his shoulder.

Opening his eyes, Keith gazed out and saw Red flying towards them. _"It worked?"_ Yorak questioned sounding just as surprised as Keith felt.

"The Red Lion found you!" Allura said and Keith heard a low growl in his head. He got a distinct feeling Red was currently scolding him for blowing up the pod.

-.-

/Keith! You're back!/ Jaz called as Red flew past the Castle.

"Good to be back! Where's the others?" he questioned looking around.

/Under the ark/ Jaz replied, /I have a shield up defending them, but it looks like the cannon's operational again/

"Say no more," he smirked activating the jawblade. "You may want to hold on Princess."

"What do you—ah!" Allura exclaimed clutching the seat tighter as Red dove down sharply. Sliding under the cannon, the blade dug into the metal connecting it to the ship, and Keith made the loop quickly, before flying, smirking in satisfaction as the resulting explosion blew the cannon off the ship.

_"Good luck repairing that."_

/Yeah! Alright!/ he heard the others call.

/Good to have you back Keith/ Shiro said.

"Sorry about takin' off," he apologized for the unneeded trouble they caused.

/Is the Princess with you?/ Lance questioned.

"Yes."

/Like 'with you' with you, or…/

/Lance! Focus!/ Jaz snapped.

/Keith! Little help!/ Hunk called.

"On my way buddy," Keith smiled flying around Jaz's shield and joining the others pushing up the ship.

/Alright everybody! No time to relax!/ Shiro reminded as they got the ark away from the edge.

_"No? Really? I was thinking we could have a drink,"_ Yorak remarked. Keith really needed to work with him on what times were good for sarcasm.

/Let's show them what they're dealing with! Form Voltron!/

Forming Voltron they flew up to face the ship as it turned towards them. /The weapons systems are down, what are they doing?/ Lance questioned.

/They're heading for the ark! They're gonna ram it!/

/Then we'll have to meet them head on/ Shiro stated, /Form sword!/

Nodding, Keith jammed his bayard into the slot, forming Voltron's sword. /Will the sword be able to cut through an entire battle cruiser?/ Lance questioned as they flew towards the incoming ship.

/Even if it can't the damage should still be significant enough to bring the ship down/ Jaz stated. /It does already have two damaged engines/

Keith shivered as he felt Red rumble, glancing at his bayard, he could practically feel Red telling him to do something. The question was what? "Guys, I think my lion's trying to tell me something."

/I can feel something too!/ Lance commented.

/Same!/ Pidge added.

/I thought that was just me/ Hunk sighed.

/Then do it!/ Shiro and Jaz exclaimed.

Keith grabbed onto his bayard and almost jumped as he felt a surge of power run through it. Before his eyes, he watched the sword of Voltron double in size. /Uh, everyone sees this right?/ Hunk asked.

/Yes/

"Cool," Keith smirked moving Red to lift the blade as they flew up under the cruiser with Green's support. Driving the blade into the hull, the thrusters increased intensity as they shot down the battleship's length. As they reached the engines, Red and Green sliced the sowrd down as Voltron ducked down and got far enough away to avoid being affected by the resulting explosion.

"Is it always this rough in here?" Allura questioned gripping the back of Keith's seat tightly, her hair looking a little frazzled.

"No, it's usually worse."

/Awesome! Now let's get the Taujeerians to safety!/ Shiro said moving straight to the next task at hand.

/How? Their booster rockets are shot/ Hunk remarked.

"We could carry them?" Keith suggested.

/…oh. Duh/

/That works!/ Pidge said as they flew over. Landing beside the ark, Green and Red buried their heads under the ship, both straining to left the ship onto Voltron's shoulders. Once it was on, they started flying up into the atmosphere, away from the crumbling planet.

/You guys are doing great! Just keep going! Whoo! You've got this! I believe in all of you!/

/Jaz! Please knock it off!/ Shiro grunted and Keith could practically see his eyebrow twitching.

/You can do it!/

/JAZ!/ they all screamed as they headed towards the moon.

-.-

Keith and Allura stood guiltily in front of the others as they were reprimanded for their actions.

"I'm sorry for leaving," Allura apologized stepping forwards.

"Me too," Keith said glancing away. "We thought we were doing the right thing."

"But clearly you were correct Shiro. We're always stronger together."

"On the bright side, we know know how Zarkon's tracking us," Jaz smiled. "If Red found Keith however far away you two were, then it stands to reason Zarkon's doing the same with Black."

"Plus, I found out my lion can extend its claws like that," Hunk said making a claw motion with his fingers, "ting! Which'll come in handy if we even need to, say, I don't know, slice up a giant steak while getting beat up?" He glanced at the others, before smiling nervously. "Or fight evil and save innocent people. That works too."

"You are a paragon of heroism Hunk," Jaz deadpanned.


	19. Space Mall

Chapter 19

**A/N: Alright, this chapter might be a little longer than the others because as we can all surmise, this is the space mall, and who would dare leave out any details of that wonderful adventure?**

**Once again, I only own this story and my OCs**

**/commlinks/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Now that all those notes are covered, onto one of the best S2 episodes!**

"Ok look," Shiro stated calmly as they gathered on the Castle's bridge, "so we now know for certain that Zarkon's tracking us through the Black Lion. We have to find some way to stop him."

"How are we going to do that?" Pidge inquired.

"We've never had this situation before," Allura recollected. "Two Paladins battling for the same Lion."

Jaz raised an eyebrow, "So do they need to fight to the death or something?"

"Well, unless we want Zarkon taking control of Voltron every time we get close," Shiro replied, "I'll need to forge a new bond wih my lion. One that's stronger than his."

"Well while you're working on that, the rest of us need to find some new teludav lenses," Coran remarked, "otherwise we won't be able to travel via wormhole."

"Is that something we have to mail order?" Hunk questioned.

"Does anyone even make those anymore?" Keith voiced.

_"I doubt it,"_ Yorak remarked.

"I don't know," Allura answered, biting her lip. "Only a handful of Alteans could work the teludav ten-thousand years ago; they may not exist anymore."

_"I don't think they do."_

Coran pulled on his mustache perking up, "I think I know where we could get some…" Leaving them with little explanation, he walked over to the monitor pulling up some images of Coran and Alfor in a market of some sort and two four-armed species, one of which the Paladins easily recognized as the Eliksni.

"Coran," Allura chased, "surely you're not thinking of going to one of those filthy swap moons! The last time you went those space pirates nearly took you for everything you had!"

"Space pirates?"

"The Unilu and Elkisni were traders and pirates," Coran explained motioning to the smaller quadri-limbed group. "that roam the universe trading in black market goods: unmvy spice, bytor water, little bottles of infinity vapor."

"…Darvah never told us that," Shiro said.

Jaz shrugged, "His clan has kept to peaceful trading and mercenary work after Queen Mara made a treaty with Variks and the head of his House, as well as conquered the House of Wolves which was then assimilated into the Eliskni clans in the Reef."

"So wait…the Eliskni really came from outside our system?" Pidge breathed, her eyes wide in awe as the Awoken woman nodded.

"The Elkisni were even more successful than the Unilu, they roamed the universe for Lord knows how many eons as they became adept as pirateering mercinaries who traded in weapons they invented from technology they stole." Coran continued, "Of course, you had to bargain; no one could bargain like the Eliksni or Unilu."

"Tell us about it," Jaz, Keith, and Shiro groaned remembering whenever they'd do trade in the Reef or heaven-fobid play _Monopoly_ with Darvah.

"Last time, I ended up giving away three-quarters of my shipment of lango for a used pogo oscillator."

Allura laughed with Coran lightly at the memory. "Father was not pleased."

"Well while Coran's picking up these lenses I can take you out for something shiny," Lance smiled scooching up to Allura with a smile.

"This isn't shopping!" Coran expaimed popping up between them. "You're not wondering around saying: 'Oh! What a lovely pink hat! This is so becoming!' No! I cannot let Allura get anywhere near those filthy, lowballing, pirate hoodlums!"

"But I'd love something sparkly," Allura pleaded making puppy-dog eyes.

"Look, you're the only one who can operate the Castle," Coran stated and Allura deflated, "you need to be resting after all you've been through. That goes for you too Jaz!"

"Draaf."

"Now, let's ready a pod for our mission," Coran said walking towards the door. "We need to get in, find the scaultrite lenses, and get out!"

"Shotgun!" Lance called rushing forwards with Hunk chasing after.

"What?! No! You have to be in the pod bay to call shotgun!"

"Since when?!"

"Since forever! That's shotgun etiquette! I wrote the book."

Shiro snorted lightly and shook their head at the two boys' antics watching the teens all leave. "While they're doing that, I'm going to go down to the hangar, strengthen my bond with the Black Lion."

"So what are we supposed to do? Sit around and worry all day?" Allura huffed crossing her arms angrily.

"…We could set up pranks to make them think the Castle's possessed again?" Jaz offered and the Princess started to contemplate as the mice hopped onto her shoulder squeaking.

At their suggestion, Allura lit up. "Dinner? And a show!?"

"That works too."

-.-

Walking into Black's hangar, Shiro sighed, looking up at the towering dark lion. "You and I have some work to do," he said patting his nose. Walking inside, he sat down in the pilot's chair, taking a deep breath focusing on his bond, frowning when he wasn't getting any response. "Work with me. what do I have to do to strengthen our bond?"

The was a loud growl and Black moved under his own accord, making Shiro gasp in shock, grasping the controls tightly.

"Whoa! Hey!" he called, his eyes widening as he saw the lion turn towards the exit. "What are you doing?"

They shot out of the hangar, and Shiro was pushed back in his seat, trying and failing to control where Black was going.

"Stop! Stop!" he pleaded pulling on the controls trying to get some sort of control, "I said stop! Turn around! That's an order!"

Black ignored him as they flew out into space.

-.-

**"Hello? Back passengers? Can you hear me?"** Coran asked as Keith sprawled out over his seat in the pod, letting pidge and Hunk sit on the other one as Lance sat with Coran up in the front.

**"It's sooo comfy up here!"** Lance drawled with a mocking edge in his voice, **"Extra leg room, heated seats, oh man! You guys are really missing out."**

"Stupid Lance. Stupid shotgun," Hunk grumbled under his breath.

**"Now, these swap moons are dangerous environments, so stay on your toes. No communication devices or weapons of any kind,"** Coran informed and Keith bit back a snort, like he'd go anywhere unarmed. **"Also I brought along some disguises."**

Keith raised an eyebrow sharing a look with Hunk and Pidge.

-.-

Boring elevator music droned over the quiet mall that they now stood in, Keith angrily corssing his arms as he stood in a dark blue-gray set of his Guardian armor since it passed for one of Coran's disguises and would be better for protection than anything in the duffel would've been. Around him, the others stood in similar ratty clothing that would've passed for pirates, not for shoppers; now they only stood out more than what they would've just coming in wearing their regular clothes.

"Uh, Coran?" Pidge voiced, "This swap meet looks an awful lot like a regular mall."

"It does seem to be a little cleaner than what I remember," he remarked. "Still be vigilant. These pirates are cut-throat wheeler-dealers, so keep your hands on your coin satchels."

"Uh, mine are empty," Hunk informed.

"Good."

Keith sighed, "Let's just get this over with."

"Yes right! Everyone split up, search the area for teludav lenses. We'll meet by the giant ticking clock in one varga. Don't be late, and try to blend in," Coran ordered walking away.

As the others began discarding their ratty disguises, Keith's helmet evaporated and he started walking towards a different section of the mall. His armor was clean so it should pass, besides, people might be more willing to give a Guardian information rather than a random stranger.

-.-

Digging into his food, the security guard looked up as the monitor beeped, zooming in on a small group standing around a trashcan and tossing clothes in. "Huh? Space pirates!" he exclaimed dropping his food as his hands slammed on the console. "Disguising yourselves as harmless shoppers eh? Well it won't work!"

Going to his locker, he pulled out his communicator and badge, strapping them on before looking at the poster in reverence.

"Don't worry Emperor Zarkon, I know you can't be here to protect the mall, but your faithful number two is on the case! Hope these priates are ready to meet Varkon!"

-.-

"Come on!" Shiro groaned as Black continued flying into the vast unknown. The lion hadn't responded to him since they left the Castle, leading Shiro towards wherever Black was intent on showing him.

"Look! I don't know where you're headed! But you need to start listening to me right now!" he exclaimed and to his surprise, and relief, Black slowed down. "That's better."

"Where are we?" Looking out the window, he gazed around warily; when did they get in an asteroid field? The great lion dove under a massive piece of debris and Shiro stared at the humongous celestial body the debris seemed to be originating from. "Why did you bring me here? What are you trying to tell me?"

Black rumbled and Shiro felt a presence brush the back of his mind, not unsimilar to the way it felt when they first did the flying exercise with the blindfolds.

"So you want me to see through your eyes?"

A purr rumbled through Black in confirmation, and Shiro closed his eyes to see what Black was showing him.

_A planet teeming with life flashed before he stood beside Zarkon and Alfor._

Opening his eyes, Shiro looked up now recognizing the debris as the once-living planet. "…Was this your home? This was Zarkon's home planet?" he asked quietly feeling his stomach drop. Just what happened to it?

Taking a deep breath, Shiro closed his eyes again. "Show me more."

_A blue comet flew down towards the planet, making impact in a field. He could see Alfor and Zarkon standing at the edge of a crater gazing a glowing blue and black meteor in the center._

_Alfor stood with another Altean working on the lions._

"King Alfor built you from that commet, and you fought beside him…"

_ Alfor stood talking with a younger version of the emperor._

"With Zarkon."

_Yellow eyes turned towards him flashing to a dark violet._

Opening his eyes with a gasp, dread built in Shiro's gut as he got the feeling that Zarkon saw him.

-.-

Hunk stood on a conveyer belt looking at the stores as it slowly moved along. "Ok, if I were a ten-thousand-year-old wormhole lens where would I be?"

Seeing an alien couple speed past he started jogging to keep up with them. "Hello? Excuse me—wow you guys are really booking it here—would you happen to know where I could find some leses for my ship around here?"

The couple sped up.

"Is there a one-hour lens place around here or something? Anything? Nothing?" he trailed off as the continued to speed along, leaving him in the dust. "You know what, I'll catch up with you guys later!"

Resting his hands on his knees, Hunk took deep breaths, holy cow those two little alines could run fast. The scent of food hit his nose and Hunk popped up, eyes widening in awe: the food court. "Oh! This. Is. Beautiful!" he said getting off the belt and walking in finding some free sample trays. "Wonder if the lenses could be under these?" Popping one of the green blobs in his mouth he chewed nodding at the flavor. "Rubbery."

Going to another tray that held what resemebled tacos, he picked one up and bit into it. "Oh! Sweet and salty!"

He went over to a tray of drinks and took one, not expecting to almost get a brain freeze as his mouth simultaneously lit on fire. "So cold! But spicy!" Wonder if there was milk around here somewhere?

After finally getting the burn in his mouth to die, Hunk went over to a tray of unimpressive-looking greyish violet blobs. Maybe they tasted better than they looked? Eating one he frowned, nope, just as bad as it looked. "Eh, what else is there?"

"Five-hundred GAC."

"Huh? Five-hundred—excuse me?" he questioned looking at the large Galra.

"Sustenance provided by Vrepit Sal, that's me. Five-hundred GAC is now owed," he replied.

"Oh…I thought this was a free sample situation," he said tapping his index fingers together nervously. Maybe this guy would cut him some slack.

"Free?" the Galra scoffed.

Quiznak.

"Of charge," he explained, "You know, gratis?"

Vrepit Sal frowned.

"Look buddy, I don't have any money," he confessed. "So…"

Before Hunk knew it he was cuffed to the bar under the sink as he was given a rag to wash dishes. Working off his debt, ok, he could do that, that wasn't so bad. There was someone else doing it too. "How long you been here?" he asked looking at the older person.

"Sal put me here when I was just a little girl."

"…Oh no."

-.-

Keith walked down a hall glancing at the stores every now and then, surely there had to be a ship repair shop around here somewhere? It would be the best place to most likely locate these lenses, or at least some of the materials needed to make them.

"Let me show you the wonderful workings of the Galsu X-90 Extreme Blade System," a voice said, and Keith trailed to a stop. A weapons vendor? Maybe he could get some new ammo, or an appraisal on his knife. Looking at the shop he frowned, it seemed to be mostly cookware.

"It slices, it dices, it kills, slaughters, and skins, and constantly stays razor sharp," the vendor continued twirling the blades expertly.

Maybe he was a weapons vendor? A frying pan could count as a weapon given the right situation, he'd seen Cayde-6 use one on Lord Shaxx in a Crucible before.

"Look at it cut through this bloato fruit," the vendor said pulling out a green fruit.

_"I don't think he's a weapons vendor."_

"No, he's not," Keith grumbled, crossing his arms.

Tossing the fruit up in the air, he sliced it a few times as it came down, before catching it and setting on the counter where the fruit fell into thin organized slices. "Paper thin. How much would you pay for this knife?"

"But wait, there's more!"

_"There's always more! You can't just sell a product without there always being more!"_ Yorak groaned and Keith snorted as they remembered Earth's infuriating sales commercials.

The Unilu picked up a rock. "How many times have you had to fight off a giant rock monster and go straight to a picnic? All the time right?" he asked before slicing the rock with the blades. "The Galsu can cut through rocks and still cut bloato fruit," he tossed another in the air and sliced it up again, "paper thin. Now how much would you pay? Seriously how much? I have a lot of these to unload."

"I just have a question," Keith said and the Unilu scowled, crossing two of his arms.

"Fine, what'cha got?" he said.

Keith pulled out his knife, holding it out. "You ever come across something like this?" he asked setting it down on the counter.

Seeing the knife, the Unilu put on a monocle and carefully inspected the blade. "Whoa, this craftmanship's incredible! And is this a Luxite blade? The planet they mined that from hasn't existed in decapheobs. Where'd you get this?" he asked looking more eager than what Keith liked.

"It was a gift," Keith stated.

"Ok, that's vague, tell you what I'll give you a thousand GAC for it?"

"It's not for sale."

"Two thousand."

"No thanks. Give it back."

"Ok, how about you beat it before security gets here, I know it's stolen."

"It's not stolen!"

"Then tell me where you got it?"

"That's Guardian business, classified," Keith stated watching as the Unilu finally seemed to register what he was wearing with wide eyes.

"You—You're a…"

He didn't bother to hide the growl creeping into his tone, "Give me back my knife."

Slowly holding out the blade with a shaking hand, Keith swiped it back before turning on his heel and walking away, failing to notice the Unilu press a button.

-.-

Varkon sat on his hoverbike, playing with the controls. Someday he'd be able to use this to chase after pirates and make Emperor Zarkon proud. An alert sounded with the shop name listed, finally some excitement!

"Trouble at the Slice Capades?" he questioned looking at the warning, it wasn't a theft, and he didn't recognize the green symbol flashing on his monitor. Turning on the camera, he froze seeing the form wearing regal armor storming away.

First pirates, now a Guardian, this day was getting better and better! Looking at the Guardian, he balked…where were his guards? Guardians in the empire were always supposed to have guards, it was Emperor Zarkon's orders.

"Don't worry sir! Varkon's coming!" he exclaimed turning on his speeder and driving through the halls.

-.-

Jaz and Allura sat side by side with wide smiles as they watched the mice jump onto a tiny tightrope, rolling across it in a little wheel. The three rolled back, stopping and separating on the rope in various poses before jumping down onto the large belly of their friend below, where they all posed at the bottom.

"Absolutely stunning!"

"That was so cute!"

"Once we defeat Zarkon, I'm taking you on the road!" Allura grinned.

"Oh! I can get a showing in the Awoken Royal Court!"

"Wonderful! What's it like?"

"Well…"

-.-

Glancing nervously between the bathrooms, Katie whimpered at the pain in her gut as if her bladder was about to burst. The problem: figuring out which bathroom was for which gender? That was even if aliens went by typical gender rules. Blue typically represented male, but she could be wrong in this section of the galaxy. The same could be said for the pink symbol, which gave no shape for her to discern the gender.

Hearing the flush of a toilet she perked up, maybe who or whatever came out of the bathroom could tell her which was which!

Her answer came in a tall slug-like blob-thing with three bellies slithering past her out of the pink bathroom.

She sighed in defeat, "I'll just hold it."

Turning away from the bathrooms, she walked over to rejoin Lance who was standing in front of what appeared to be a store based on Earth. "Lance come on! We have to be back at the ticking clock in a half-hour!" she called jogging over.

"But Pidge wait, look at all this crazy Earth stuff this alien's selling!" Lance said wearing a big grin.

She furrowed her eyebrows, this is the exact opposite of what they were supposed to be doing. "We're supposed to be looking for the teladuv lenses and you're in the one store we know for a fact won't," seeing something out of the corner her eye, she stopped, eyes widening; it couldn't be…here! "Oh. My. Gosh! Is that Killbot Phantasm One? The First Journey to the Depths of the Demonsphere?!" She picked it up, these were so hard to find on Earth! What were the odds she'd find it in space?! Looking at the box above it she nearly squealed, hugging the white box to her chest. "Oh! Mercury Gameflux Two! With the original power glove that gives infinite lives if you touch the index finger to the pinky—WE HAVE TO HAVE THIS! How much is it?!"

"Twelve-hundred GAC," the grey alien replied.

"Is that a lot?" she asked looking at Lance, please, please let him have the money!

"Compared to what we have now, which is zero, yes, it's a lot."

She set down the box, no way was she leaving this mall without that game. Not even Jaz or Shiro would be able to stop her! "We're going to find some money!" she declared grabbing Lance's arm. "Don't sell that!"

She didn't hear the reply over Lance's whining.

-.-

Spotting a directory, Coran slunk over. "Uh…can I help you?" the Unilu girl questioned.

"Yes," he stated adjusting his collar, "I'm looking for the o_ther_ market."

"Huh?"

Seems he needed to be a little clearer, she did look young, she might be new to the trade. "Some might call it the _black market_," he emphasized.

"Uh…I don't think I know that, maybe check there," she said pointing at the map.

Coran chuckled, she really was a newbie. "I don't think it's on the map, it might be more off-book," he smiled, lifting his eyepatch with a wink before letting it fall back again.

"What?"

"Hm," maybe she was cleverer than he gave her credit for, pulling out some money, he slid it towards her, "maybe this'll shake your memory?"

"Again, what?"

Ah, she was really good, maybe no a newbie after all. "Ah the old Unilu shakedown, eh?" Coran laughed quietly, "Fine." Pulling out more money, he handed it to her. "Starting to get a fuzzy recollection yet?"

She took the money, looking confused. "Who is this? Is this you?"

"No! that's King Groggery the Infirm!" he exclaimed snatching his money back. "I'll find it myself!"

-.-

Wiping some sweat off his forehead, Hunk grimaced, for a guy whose food didn't taste that great, he sure had a lot of business. The pile of dishes seemed like it would never end. "I gotta escape somehow," he muttered before glancing to his sponge, "…Maybe I could scrub through my cuffs?"

The blasted horn sounded making him jump again as Sal called out the order, "FOURTY-THREE!" He tossed the pile of, Hunk wasn't sure what it was but it didn't look edible onto an unfortunate blue alien's tray. "Sustinence unit complete, ingest."

A small explosion sounded, and the robot went down.

"Aw, not again!" Sal groaned, "Now who'll be my sustinence preparer?"

Hunk's eyes widened and he sent a prayer of thanks, now he could show these people real food!

"I've got this Sal," he said. "Uncuff me."

The Galra snorted, "You?"

"Trust me. I'm an enthusiastic gourmand with an incredible palate; also your robot's dead on the floor."

Vrepit Sal shrugged, "That last part's true." Walking around, he removed the cuff attaching him to the sink…and put it on the robot's arm.

Well, if push came to shove, Hunk could run while dragging the robot.

"Alright, work."

A small robot that reminded him of Beezer printed out an order, "Ok, now watch this—I can't read this," he grumbled looking at the mess of gibberish before him. He tossed it aside. "Whatever, I'll just improvise!"

Doing what he did best, Hunk was certain he created a masterpiece as he set it in front of Sal. "Do you smell how the tanginess of tuber masture really brings out the charred flavoring from the palmagoren fillet?" he asked sprinkling some of the last spices over the dish.

Sal reached to pull the horn.

"No! we won't be using that," Hunk chided wacking his hand away. "Let's just say: Number forty-four! You're order's up!" A demure alien girl meekly stepped forwards taking the plate. "Enjoy your meal!"

Watching carefully as she took the first bite, he smiled as he saw the look on her face. She loved it, seems his experimenting back in the Castle finally payed off.

"What did you do to her face?" Sal questioned looking confused. "It's cracking!"

Ok, so Galra really didn't know much about food or smiling or smiling while enjoying food. Noted. "She's smiling," he explained, "she's enjoying her food."

Sal handed him another order.

Hunk stretched his arms, this was gonna be fun. "Ok, let's provide some sustenance!"

-.-

It had taken some time, but Shiro finally calmed down after the last vision. He couldn't feel the strange chill from when Zarkon had looked at him anymore.

Taking another calming breath, he closed his eyes again, "Show me more."

_Black flew in the middle of a battle field, beautiful blue wings extending from the parts constructing the shield on his back._

"Those wings…you have powers I haven't unlocked," he murmured in wonder.

_ Before his eyes, he watched the lion seemingly dissolve into a violet streak in the battle before materializing behind the enemy fleet, turning and firing from behind and hitting the engines. _

"Incredible!"

_Black turned and suddenly he could see Zarkon. "I've got you now Paladin!" he snarled._

_A blast fired at him and Shiro screamed, landing on the ground. He could make out his reflection in the ground below him, letting him see the vast expanse of the night sky above. Above him, there was a violet sun seemingly trapped in a solar eclipse._

_"You are a fool to face me here," a horrifyingly familiar voice said._

_Looking up, Shiro's lungs froze, Zarkon was standing not even five meters away from him, Black sitting between them like a judge._

_"When you die in this realm your body dies as well," Zarkon continued almost looking amused, as if he thought Shiro would barely even give a fight worth noting, "and I will take control of Voltron."_

_That made him growl, he may've been dying due to his…condition, but he would not let his family be led by that monster._

_Zarkon lunched at him and Shiro lifted his arms to block, biting back a grunt as he was slammed back before another force hit him in the side and he went flying. Flipping in the air like he and Jaz used to do in the arena when larger oppoenets would toss them, he landed on his knees, sling back before racing towards the Emperor. _

_He just had to think of this like a gladiator match._

_Activating his arm, he slammed it into Zarkon, pushing him back with a yell. Swinging his leg, he watched Zarkon duck back and swing his own arm, using his Galra one to block it. dropping down he attempted to get the legs as Zarkon stepped back as Shiro jumped back up. He blocked the Galra arm from his face, before Shiro landed again, punching forwards with his human hand._

_And Zarkon was gone in a blink of an eye. _

_Pain erupted in his back as he was hit and slammed face-first into the ground, flying through the air trying to regain his bearings. Another burst of pain and Shiro was on the ground again blinking up at the sky full of stars._

_Getting to his feet, Shiro activated his arm again and charged swinging at Zarkon's chest, ducking when Zarkon swept at him. jumping up again he attampeting to kick the emperor, only to growl as he was blocked again._

_"You could never take my place as the head of Voltron," Zarkon sneered catching his fist and squeezing._

_Shiro screamed as bones cracked, and an armored leg slammed into his gut, sending him skipping across the unforgiving ground again. Rolling to his knees, he looked up at Zarkon with all the rage he could muster. _

_"You can never pilot the Black Lion after everything you've done! You can never lead Voltron again," he replied. "You're no Paladin."_

_Zarkon's face turned much darker as Shiro said that. _

_Lunging forwards, Shiro managed to duck as Zarkon's fist swung for him. Juming up to punch him, he was unable to dodge the kick to his gut thant sent him flying. Using his Galra hand to catch himself, he slid on the ground and got back to his feet and braced himself as he watched the Galra Emperor speed toards him._

_"You have no idea how to command a weapon like this!"_

_Shiro grit his teeth, seems Zarkon forgot all the important things about being a Paladin. "No one commands the Black Lion," he said, rolling out of the way as Zarkon punched the ground where he'd been standing. Springing back to his feet, Shiro ran at Zarkon, swinging his arm as the Emperor dodged again with supernatural speed. _

_But he was starting to get an idea of his strategy. Jumping up into the air, he flipped and swung his arm down as Zarkon marterialzed beneath him._

_He missed as the ex-Paladin disappeared again._

_"YOU DARE LECTURE ME?!" Zarkon hollered as his claws pinned Shiro to the ground and a hand wrapped around his throat, slowly cutting off his air supply as he was lifted above Zarkon's head. "Do you think the Black Lion would allow such a weak, feeble, dying creature to pilot it? Only the powerful can command it."_

_Shiro pried at the fingers wrapping around his neck, trying to loosen them, "You've forgotten whats most important between a lion and its Paladin. It's not about power, its about earning each other's trust."_

_Zarkon scoffed, tightening his grip. "Trust has nothing to do with it. The lion is mine. Forever."_

_Shiro screamed as claws broke his skin. The vice encircling hs neck began clamping down and he couldn't draw in air, he could only see the burning violet of Zarkon's eyes as he gleefully watched Shiro struggle._

_On the edges of his consciousness, Shiro heard a loud roar and the sound of something landing nearby. _

_Then it went white._

Shiro opened his eyes and found himself sitting in Black's cockpit. "Did…did you just save me?" he asked hesitantly, smiling as he felt a rumble in response. "Thanks. Let's go home."

Blank purred again and Shiro watched as the images of the asteroid field faded to reveal the hangar.

"We never left."

-.-

"I'll find you Guardian!" Varkon proclaimed scooting through the mall on his small hoverbike. Oh, imagine how proud Emperor Zarkon would be if he found the unprotected Guardian, surely he'd be promoted—maybe he'd even be assigned to the Guardian's personal escort squadron!

Driving down the hall, he hit the brakes bacing up and staring at the formation of a large crowd. "What's going on?" he muttered narrowing his eyes. That Guardian better not be in there, non-Galrans weren't allowed to get near them without the escorts.

Turing his bike, he stated driving through. "Official business! Excuse me! This is a fire hazard! I'm in the middle of a hot pursuit!" he called driving to the front.

"I SAID OVER MEDIUM! OVER MEDIUM! YOU RUBE!" someone hollered and Varkon grimaced, they better have not made the Guardian mad. "DOES THIS LOOK OVER MEDIUM TO YOU?!"

"No chef!"

"Then let's get it right!" the figure at the front said tossing a plate aside. "If it ain't perfect it ain't coming out of this kitchen people! Sauce me!"

Varkon could see a bottle of sauce fly in the air dramatically.

"Now you're getting it!" he said and the figure turned around to reveal one of the pirates from earlier holding a plate as the crowd cheered. "Bon appetite!"

"I got you now pirate!" Varkon said driving in front of the pirate. "Where are your friends?!"

Hunk jumped seeing the mall cop, dropping the plate. "Don't forget what I taught you! Those are the fundamentals of cooking!" Hunk called running forwards, jumping off the counter and using the mall security's face as a stepstool to escape.

-.-

"I think this tenner's the last one," Pidge whimpered picking up the last coin in the fountain. "How much do we got?"

"Eleven-hundred and ninety-six GAC," Lance replied picking up another coin.

She grit her teeth, they were so close, infuriatingly close. They just needed one more coin. "We're so close!" she hissed stopping as she saw someone approaching the fountain. It was an alien kid, one who just so happened to have a coin. "Lance!"

Seeing where she was pointing, he grinned. "On it!" he said going to a Naruto run before diving under the water as the kid threw the coin. Jumping into the air, Lance caught it like a dolphin—somehow—and they climbed out racing back towards the shop. "Thanks!"

So apparently wishing fountains were a universal thing; who knew?

-.-

Keith washed his hands before walking out of the bathroom. So far he'd had no luck on the stupid lenses, but he'd had five lost kids come to him wanting help finding their parents. Stranger danger and street smarts did not either apply in space or Guardians were just the exception to this rule.

Stepping out, he found himself face-to-face with Hunk. "Keith!" the Yellow Paladin exclaimed grabbing his shoulders. "He's right behind me!"

That was vague. "Who?"

There was the sound of beeping and Keith looked to see a hoverbike with an overweight Galra backing up. "You!"

Keith's stomach dropped. _"He knows, doesn't he,"_ Yorak groaned.

"Run!" Keith exclaimed grabbing Hunk's arm and they began sprinting from the raving security guard. "Where's Lance and Pidge?!"

"Um…this way!" Hunk said sprinting a little faster, leading him through the mall.

Turning down a hall, they spotten them walking out of a store holding a bag and…

_"Is that a cow?"_

They could focus on that issue later, Keith decided. "Time to get moving guys!" Hunk called.

"Security's on our tail!" Keith added.

"There's the rest of the crew!"

Lance and Pidge audibly yelped and there was a crash behind them. "Everyone up on Kaltinecker!" Lance said and Keith pulled back, jumping behind Pidge onto the cow standing on the hoverboard.

"Did you buy a cow?" Hunk questioned.

"It was free with purchase!" Pidge said as Keith helped pull the Yellow Paladin up.

_"Who gives away free cows?"_

Driving the board over the railing they drifted down to the second floor as they watched the mall cop go down the stairs on his bike.

_"How is it we go to a mall and get stuck in this situation?! Can we have one normal day?"_

Yorak really should've realized by now that as Paladins of Voltron, they would never get a normal day by any standards, not even Guardian. And Guardian standards, were very, very low.

-.-

"Wait a tick, this looks familiar," Coran said looking at an older shop. "Oh lookie-lookie! An original Unilu swap shop!"

"Good eye friend," the shopkeeper said coming out from behind the counter. "This shop's been in my family since before the empre began. Can I interest you in a butcher barrel? Or perhaps a set of window breakers?" He moved a cloth covered object out of his way and Coran nearly cheered when he saw the cloth fall off. Teladuv lenses.

"I don't have any idea what these pieces of junk are," he remarked appearing to examine the blue disks.

"Ah, I see you have your eye on these antique glass table toppers here," the Unilu said tapping them.

"Well, they're pretty ugly, but I have a curio cabinet for griotesqueries," he said lifting his eyepatch. "How much do you want?"

"How much have you got?"

"I have a handful of pocket lint."

"I'll take your firstborn child!"

"I might be willing to throw in a used hankerchief."

"I could accept your left foot!"

"I'd be willing to sing you a song!"

"You become my butler for one year!"

"Two Altean crown bills!"

"Five Valuvium ingots!"

"Would you accept an IOU?"

"Of course, I'll just need some collateral. Maybe ten Valuvium ingots!"

"How about this?!" Coran said tossing up one of the flying cubes he got from Olkarion, "One Olkari flying cube."

"You've got a deal!"

Putting the lenses in his pack, Coran walked out to see the Paladins flying down on…some sort of bovine creature?

"There he is!" Number Six exclaimed.

"We gotta go Coran!" Number Five called.

Running towards them, he grabbed the Red Paladin's hand, yelping as he was yanked off his feet by the surprisingly strong young man. Apparently humans were a lot stronger than they looked, Coran needed to make a note of that. "I got the Scaultrite lenses!"

"Scaultrite?! Hold on a tick!" the vendor called.

"No! No take-backs!" Coran called.

"GET BACK HERE!" the security guard called chasing after.

Driving through the exit, the cop stopped cursing, "Doggone it! Don't let me catch you pirates in my juristdiction again!"

"Oh so you can't follow us outside, huh?" Lance taunted standing up, only to yelp as his head collided with a sign. He was knocked off the cow and landed in a heap on the ground.

"That's one for Varkon."

"I'll get him," Keith huffed.

-.-

"We got the lenses!" Coran exclaimed running onto the bridge.

Jaz and Allura got up from where they were letting the mice do their hair and make-up. "Excellent! Now we can get the teludav up and running," Allura said.

"How was the swap meet?" Jaz asked as Keith put his jacket back on.

"Strange. Where's Shiro?"

"He was supposed to be working with Black, but I haven't seen or heard anything," she shrugged.

Hearing the door open, they all turned to see the Black Paladin walk in. "What did you do? Take a nap?" Allura questioned.

"Not exactly," Shiro smiled before he looked at their new guest. "Is that…a cow?"

"Yep! Her name is Kaltinecker!" Lance grinned.

"Seriously, what happened at that swap meet?" Jaz asked.

"So, did you find a way to bond with your lion?" Keith asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Shiro answered. "And we need to get moving. We're headed for the Blade of Marmora's headquarters."

"I'll plot a course!" Coran said.

"I'll make dinner!" Hunk sighed.

"While you're doing that, I'm gonna hook up the video game Lance and I bought!" Pidge cheered as they pulled out the cords.

"Yeah! Let's get this baby set up!" Lance cheered as they pulled the wires out of the box.

"Where can we…? How do…?" they trailed off as the realization hit them.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	20. Answers

Chapter 20

**A/N: Alrighty! Next chapter is here! I really hope all've y'all are enjoying my story so far! Love hearing all your reviews and I hope to hear more! Just remember this is a ****_fanfiction_**** so some things don't need to fallow the canon version exactly.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercom"**

**_Flashback/private ghost-to-Guardian chat_**

"How soon will we reach the Blade of Marmora's base?" Shiro questioned.

"Based on the coordinates Ulaz gave us, we should be there in a few dobashes," Coran answered.

"Scans are picking up an anomaly in the area, might be similar to what was hiding the last base," Jaz commented.

"I can't wait to see it!" Pidge grinned. "I mean they were able to fold space-time, and that was just an outpost!"

"Mm, the space taco. It left us too soon," Hunk said and everyone glanced his direction as they heard his stomach grumble.

"Sure, but my point is imagine how awesome the home base will be!"

"Exactly! It could be anything! Like a space jelly-donut, or a long space éclair, or a space cheeze blintz with cerry sauce on top! Maybe a little powered-sugar dusting. That's the stars."

"Aw, now I'm hungry," Lance groaned.

"Guys," Keith sighed, sitting down. "This is a serious mission. We need to focus."

"We need to focus," Lance mocked.

Keith heard, but he didn't take the bait. He didn't feel like starting another petty squabble today, not with him finally getting close to some answers.

"The base is in range," Coran said.

"Take us in slowly," Shiro said turning away from the arguing teens.

"That might be a challenge," Jaz grimaced pointing dead ahead.

"Is that a black hole?!" Hunk exclaimed.

"No, no, no, no, no. It's two black holes and a giant blue star," Coran corrected.

"That's not better."

"No kidding," Pidge said. "Just inside a black hole, the temperature is one millionth od a degree above absolute zero. But outside that it's hundred of millions of degrees Celsius."

_"Keith…are we even in the right place?"_ Yorak questioned sounding uncertain. _"I mean, it doesn't look like there's enough room to fit a base, and even if there was they'd either be burnt to a crip by the star or get sucked into one of the black holes."_

"Pionn't tho Rowuethen hewo tkii ntern unnupo it ut [Doesn't the Leviathan have two stars inside of it]?" Keith muttered quietly, thinking of the Cabalian warship that was said to destroy entire planets. "Tho beno kiyrp nyrwuwo iytnupo tho nter kiuth tho rught oqyupmont [The base could survive outside the star with the right equipment]."

_"Uh…well…ok, you've got a point. But what about the black holes?"_

"Muppro griynp [middle ground]?" Keith offered.

"So it's like when you try to nuke a frozen burrito in the microwave and it comes out all scorching hot on the outside but it's still frozen on the inside!" Hunk compared. "Right?"

"Now I'm hungry for lunch!" Lance whined.

"Hunk, please stop comparing things to food," Jaz grumbled, "otherwise I will walk straight down to the kitchen and eat that pizza you were working so hard to hide."

"YOU MADE PIZZA AND DIDN'T TELL ME?!" Lance exclaimed.

"Guys quiet!" Keith snapped standing up, stepping towards Shiro. "Coran, where's the base located?"

"In between those three deadly celestial objects," the advisor replied zooming in, and they could see a small, asteroid-sized base in front of the star, directly in the middle of the two black holes.

_"Oh…guess you were right. Thought that does make sense because it's stuck between both black holes which hold it in place and keep it from falling into one or the other. Though I am curious to see how we get past the solar flares."_

"The perfect defensive position," Jaz admired.

"Or the perfect trap," Allura contradicted.

"I'm with Allura, maybe we shouldn't, like, go in there at all."

"What are you talking about?!" Keith scoffed tossing a glare at them. They couldn't be serious? They came all this way and they were just going to leave without answers or even trying? Just because there was a _risk_? In case they hadn't noticed, every move they made was a risk; better to try and deal with the consequences than to not try and miss out on some potential allies. "We have to go in! This is the whole reason we came out here! There is no other option."

"Ok. Jeez, calm down," Lance said moving his hands as Keith turned away, glaring at the window.

"We've got an incoming communication," Jaz said pressing a button.

**"Identify yourself."**

"Are we responding?" the Awoken woman asked looking at Shiro.

The older man furrowed his brows for a split-second of contemplation before nodding, "Open a hailing frequency."

"It's open."

"We are the Paladins of Voltron, sent here by Ulaz," Shiro said going quiet as they all waited for a reply.

**"Two may enter. Come unarmed,"** the voice replied before the frequency closed.

"Why would they insist we come unarmed?" Allura growled.

"Probably because they're just as worried about us attacking them because they're Galra as you're worried about them trying to trap us for Zarkon just because they're Galra," Jaz commented with a shrug.

Allura scowled but chose to ignore her, "Shiro, this doesn't feel right."

"We've come too far to turn back now."

"They just sent us a route to the base," Coran informed opening the file and projecting the path on the screen. "But we'll have to be quick. Because of the solar flares it's only open for another varga. Then it'll be closed for two quintants."

"They're gonna close it for two years?" Hunk gaped.

"Two days," Pidge and Jaz corrected simultaneously.

"Oh."

"So, any thoughts on who's gonna join you on this little mission?" Lance asked. "I'm thinking things might get a little hot, so you're gonna want someone who can stay cool."

Keith rolled his eyes, Lance? Stay calm in a dangerous situation? So far, he's panicked every single time, without fail. Traveler forbid Lance be the one to go on this mission, he'd probably try to flirt with one of the rebels and end up getting beat up or insulting them.

"You're right," Shiro said and Keith glanced at Jaz whom just shrugged looking just as confused. "Keith, you're coming with me."

Thank the light for small miracles.

"What?" Lance squaked getting in Shiro's face. "Keith's a hothead! He's probably going to shoot first and ask questions later! And they're not gonna be able to answer his questions because they'll be DEAD!"

_"Yee have little faith,"_ Yorak grumbled and Keith grunted in agreement.

The Black Paladin put his hand on Lance's shoulder and slowly pushed him back. "We haven't yet severed Zarkon's link with the Black Lion, so it has to stay here. And the Red Lion can withstand the heat from that star. So yes, it'll be Keith."

"The course to the base will be quite treacherous to say the least," Coran stated. "You're walking a razor's edge between the gravitiational pull of the black holes and that star. One false move and you'll either be crushed into infinity or burnt to a crisp."

"Well, if there's anyone that can do it, it's Keith!" Jaz said slapping her friend on the back before leaning in. "Jurnegon, nyke ȳdra daor gīmigon skoros's jāre va lēda ao, yn sepār ȳdra daor gaomagon mirros doru-borto [Look, I don't know what's going on with you, but just don't do anything stupid]," she chided before walking back to the console.

-.-

Keith flew Red towards the base watching the path and making adjustments as needed. This was it, he could finally get some answers to questions both his father and his own ghost refused to answer. He just needed to make sure Shiro dadn't catch on to his ulterior motives, Jaz was already suspiscious. But if this was true, he could explain it to her and she'd most likely understand considering the similar situation she had in regards to her own father.

Shiro on the other hand…it was a lot more complicated.

"Hey, Keith, what did Jaz tell you?" Shiro asked stepping up beside his seat, supporting himself with a hand on the wall.

"Nothing."

Out of the corner of his eye, Keith could see Shiro frown. He didn't believe him. "You sure everything's alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You kinda blew up at everybody back there," he stated.

Keith grit his teeth wishing Shiro would just drop the subject. It wasn't important and they really did need to learn when to fool around and when to focus. Making plans and major decisions, that required focus.

Shiro continued, unaware of his brother's current inner frustration, "You'll have to control your emotions of you're going to lead this team someday."

That was not what Keith was expecting him to say. "Lead the group?" he chuckled. Yeah, funny, good joke. Shiro was just trying to make him feel better after his little episode back on the bridge.

"When we were stranded I told you 'if anything ever happens to me, I want you to lead Voltron,'" he said, no trace of humor in his tone.

Keith felt his stomach drop. Good God, he was serious. "I thought you were just delirious with pain," he replied keeping his voice even. Nothing was going to happen, this wasn't necessary. "Why on Earth would you make _me_ the leader?"

"Because I know what you're capable of," he said, "if you can learn some self discipline."

"Why are we even talking about this? Nothing's going to happen to you," he said tossing Shiro a scolding glare for thinking like that before focusing on flying again.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder. "It's just in case. I need you to get focused. When you and Allura ran off it put us all in jeopardy. It you're going to be a leader, you've got to get your head on straight."

_"Said the gay pilot."_

Traveler, Yorak now was not the time for sarcastic commentary. Keith took a slow breath to calm himself down. "Sorry. I've just had a lot on my mind."

"I know. We all have," Shiro agreed.

Shiro didn't even know the half of it.

_"Keith!"_

Hearing Yorak's call, Keith focused on flying again as the alarms went off. He didn't adjust far enough. "We're getting drawn in by one of the black holes."

"Get us out of here!"

_"No, how about we fall in."_

Keith turned Red and activated the thrusters, looping around an incoming asteroid. Locking back onto the path, he sped his lion through the closing solar flares.

"Great job. That was close."

"That's precisely why you don't distract the driver," Keith quipped under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said. Landing on the planetoid, they walked out trying to find an entrance. "Doesn't look like anything's here. Looks like a plain asteroid."

A rumble came from the ground and both Paladins turned as they heard something click. Two dark figures wearing the same uniform as Ulaz rose from the ground.

"Come with us," the larger on said.

Keith didn't hesitate before walking towards them, he was going to get answers here one way or another. Shiro fell into step behind him as they walked onto the platform with the two Blade agents. It began lowering into the elevator shaft, and the exit closed above them. Red sent a push of worry, seeming anxious, but Keith reassured her, he was going to be fine. He could heal faster than anyone, she knew that.

The elevator came to a stop and the door opened, revealing a line of soldiers on either side of the room leading to a singular form standing on a platform under the holographic symbol of the rebel group.

This was it.

They walked between the soldiers, up to the long figure wearing what Keith thought resembled a mix between a warlock's tunic and a hunter's cloak. "I am Kolivan, leader of the Blade of Marmora."

"My name is Shiro, and this is Keith. We are Paladins of Voltron."

"I know who you are."

_"Why do you need us to announce ourselves then?"_ Yorak said.

"Then you know that we were sent by one of your own," Shiro replied.

"Ulaz was a fool to divulge this location to you," Kolivan stated coldly. "He had a penchant for ignoring orders and following his impulses."

_"Doesn't that sound like someone we all know and love? Right Keith?"_ Yorak said and Keith felt an eyebrow twitch. Why was Yorak determined to drive him nuts?

"That's what got him killed."

_"Ouch."_

Apparently Shiro didn't like the commet either because his eyes blazed with fury. "He gave his _life_ to save us! What he did brought us here today and Voltron is ready to assist you. Are we welcome here or not?"

"…You were told to come unarmed."

Red? Sure she was a weapon, but she was the biggest identification anyone could get. "You also told us to identify ourselves! The lions are as close as we get to an ID."

"If anything happens, believe me you'll be happy to have the Red Lion by your side," Shiro reassured trying to mediate the situation.

"I imagine we would," Kolivan said and Keith frowned, he didn't like that tone. "However, I wasn't referring to your beast."

Oh qogralbar.

Keith turned just as one of the masked agents grabbed his arm, pinned it behind his back and knocked his feet out fron under him. Pinning him on his stomach, pressure was placed on his arm. If he moved it would be broken.

Painful, but if it came down to it, he'd handle it.

"Keith!" Shiro called and he glanced up to see another restraining him.

Then there was the sound of a blade being unsheathed. "He has one of our blades," the one on his back snarled pressing harder. "Who did you steal this from?"

"I didn't! I've had it my whole life," he answered.

"Lies!"

"Can you corroborate your friend's statement?" Kolivan questioned looking to Shiro. "does this blade truly belong to him?"

"I…I don't know," Shiro stuttered looking at the scene in shock. He really shouldn't have been surprised Keith brought a weapon, he never went anywhere unarmed, but this…why did his brother have a Galra's blade?

"Shiro, you know me," Keith pleaded as he caught a flash of doubt in the other's eyes, "I promise you, I didn't steal it. I've had this knife as long as I can remember."

A hand pushed against his back, shoving him closer to the ground. "We can't trust them."

"I'm tellin' the truth!" he snapped pushing back a bit. "Ulaz had a knife like this. Tell me what it means."

"Our organization is built on secrecy and trust," Kolivan stated.

_"That's not an answer."_

"You two should leave, now."

The Galra let him up and Shiro darted over checking if he was ok quickly before turning his angered gaze back to Kolivan. "We came here to form an alliance, but obviously we're not welcome. Come on Keith, we're leaving."

Sorry Shiro, but Keith was going to disappoint this time. Steeling his resolve, he planted himself in place glaring up at this "Kolivan." "I'm not leaving without answers," he stated. "Somehow one of your knives ended up with me. Tell me how."

"Your friend is right. It is time for you to go."

"Where did it come from?" he demanded. "I have to know."

Kolivan remained quiet this time, and Keith swore if he told them to leave one more time he was going to get what he wanted the hard way. "You seek knowledge? There is only one way to attain knowledge here."

Now they were getting somewhere. "How?! I'll do it!"

"The Trials of Marmora. Should you survive, you may keep the blade and its secrets will be revealed."

"Survive?" Shiro scoffed storming over and grabbing Keith's shoulder. "Keith, this is crazy! If they're not going to help us, let's get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere. I have to do this."

"Antok, give the boy the blade," Kolivan ordered.

Keith turned snatching his blade from the massive Galra that had pinned him. "We will meet again."

"Can't wait."

"These trials result in one of two things: knowledge or death."

-.-

Keith walked into an empty room wearing a thin suit that resembled the material the spies were wearing under their armor. Clutching his knife tightly, he glanced around for his opponent. Getting a strange feeling that these guys would understand his normal go-to languages given their talk with Ulaz, Keith whispered quietly in Hivian, "Yorak, Xy sxxw gio di xadtxy tawx dtx puld kg nioswz uyx txuqasf iy tiqw ipp is txuqasf dtxk piy uz qisf uz jizzarqx [Yorak, I need you to either hide the fact my wounds are healing or hold off on healing them for as long as possible]."

He could sense the little light's discomfort at the request to do the opposite of his purpose to his bonded partner, but Yorak needed to understand they could not risk discovery. Especially not with the appearance that the Galra druids could sense his already unstable quintessence. _"…Ok. I'll do what I can. But if it's serious not even you will be able to stop me."_

Keith nodded, he could live with that.

An elevator whirred to life and Keith sunk into a fighting stance watching the Blade member rising from the floor. "Surrender the blade," he said pulling out his own sword. "You cannot win."

"Try me," he grunted quietly before lunging forwards. Their blades clashed and Keith jumped, swinging his leg out as the agent ducked back. Slashing forwards, he growled as they continued their evasion tactics, opting for a fighting style that would've ended up with Lord Shaxx personally interrupting a Crucible to beat their gundja. Flipping the blade in his hand, he stabbed at them, ignoring the next clang of metal before punching, holding back as his fist slammed into their shoulder.

Apparently, he held back too much because they were still able to slam him away with a quick punch to the jaw and a kick in the gut, sending him rolling across the floor. He got back to his feet, and flipped the knife again putting more force into his defense, wincing whenever the other's blade would break through his defense and cut him. What Keith would give for real armor.

The sword slashed down and cut into his right shoulder as he ducked out of the way. He couldn't hold back a cry of pain, nor the resulting punch that gave a loud crack as he hit them. Separating they panted for a moment, Keith was relieved to see he didn't kill his opponent, but that shoulder did not look right.

Lunging again, Keith lashed out with the knife, ducking as a fist swung towards his face. Pain exploded in his injured arm and he cried out as it was pinned behind him and a sword touched his nape.

"Surrender the blade and the pain will cease," the other growled, sounding winded.

"I won't quit," he stated ducking his head down and pressing his left hand to the floor as he kicked upwards with his legs. Twisting his torso, he kicked the agent away, catching himself in a crouch before standing up straight clutching his wounded shoulder. Looks like this would be one Yorak would need to slowly heal rather than handle it like the already gone bruises and minor cuts.

"Then the pain continues," the soldier grunted getting up. "You are not meant to go through that door."

Whatever, he was going to win. Victory or death, right? That was the Galra way.

Storming into the next room, he found himself facing two opponents. The left one shot at him first, jumping over, he parried the sword before ducking as another sword swung over his head. The left one lunged from where he landed and Keith jumped out of the way, rolling under the sword of the second before swinging at them. The blocked and kicked, slamming their leg into his right arm with a crack that Keith was sure was his own arm judging from the pain.

It would heal, wounds always healed.

-.-

"This isn't a fair fight!" Shiro protested as Keith cried out in pain. He was already hurt, why would they let this continue? Even back in prison he and Jaz got treatment and rest between fights, the other guy was getting treated right now, so why did Keith have to continue?

"Nor is taking on the Galra, yet that is the fight we face," Kolivan replied coldly as Shiro winced as Keith was flipped on his back landing painfully. Yet he still got back up, practically becoming a blur as he attacked the larger one, ducking under his sword and taking out his legs, before rolling out of the way of the second.

"Come on Keith."

-.-

"Surrender the blade and the pain will cease," one of them said as Keith panted, getting back to his feet.

"Never."

"You are not meant to go through that door."

Keith jogged through, only slowing his charge just enough when he saw the next three rise from the ground to make sure he wouldn't kill them. He managed to injure one, broke their leg by the looks of it. The other two got payback.

He went to four. Even more pain for him, and more injuries for them as he began to lose his restraint.

Five, he got a deep cut in his leg and some broken ribs. Two of them wouldn't be able to walk for a while.

At six, another blade hit his wounded shoulder and Keith actually let out a spark that was masked as his knife clashed with another sword before he was forced to dodge three of the others.

Seven, he hit one in the chest and there was a sickening crunch and they collapsed, still alive, but definitely possessing broken ribs. Another had a bone peeking through their leg. Keith got a cut across his abdomen.

-.-

"How long does this go on?"

"Sometimes, the greatest challenge is knowing when to stop."

"He'll never quit."

"One way or another, this will end. Knowledge or death."

-.-

"How long has it been?" Allura questioned stopping her pacing.

"Roughly ten vargas."

"We cannot just wait here."

"In case you haven't noticed Princess, there isn't much we can do," Jaz reminded from where she was lying on the ground. "Not unless you want to be, A: sucked into a black hole, or B: burnt to a crisp. Take your pick."

"Isn't the path closed for like, I don't know, another thirty vargas or something?" Lance asked.

Coran typed on the monitor, "That's actually correct."

"Really?" Hunk said.

Lance cracked his knuckles, "Yeah, I wasn't born yester-quintant!"

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," Jaz acknowledged.

"Hey!"

"I have to know what's going on down there," Allura said.

"There's no way to get a reading on their base," Pidge informed. "Too much interference from the solar flares and black holes."

"If we account for the gravitiational lensing maybe we can reduce some of the noise and interference and connect with the Red Lion's sensors, right?" Hunk suggested. "That's right. Right?"

"Are you looking at me?" Lance asked with a shrug.

"We can try," Coran said.

"Get on it."

-.-

Keith tried to keep down the tired tremble in his body from all the fighting he'd been doing. He wasn't even sure how long he'd spent fighting each group through the pain in his shoulder and increasingly uncontrollable light. The more rounds he did the harder it got to hold back, if he kept this up someone was going to die in a burst of light and ash. There had to be someway out of the loop, there was more to the challenge, there always was more to a challenge. He just needed to slow down enough to find it.

They each started stepping off the platforms they came up on and they started lowering. There. That was what he was missing!

Going into a full sprint, he put all his strength into throwing the blade, making it too fast for any of them to knock out of the air before it became lodged between the small doors. Kicking the first two aisde, he dropped under a third blade before grabbing them and hurling them into the others with his good arm. Sliding between the legs of the last on he grabbed his knife and jumped down the shaft.

He stumbled into another room, holding his throbbing shoulder chuckling lightly. "Guess I really wasn't supposed to go through that door," he huffed. Jaz always said Titans like him always charged into things without thinking them through. Guess she was right.

Seeing double for a moment, he slowed his steps trying to regain some bearings as darkness consumed his vision.

Keith slowly opened his eyes, hearing footsteps walk towards him. When did he end up on the ground? Did he black out? Or did he die? It didn't feel like he died, his body was still throbbing with pain, that should've healed by now. It would've healed by now if he were dead.

A shadow stopped over him, and he focused his vision, relaxing as he saw a familiar form above him.

"Hey, man. You did it." Shiro held out a hand, and Keith stretched out his arm, ignoring the pain as he was pulled to his feet. He could live with pain, he had before, he could get over it.

"Shiro?" he grunted making sure he could stand on his own before looking to the Black Paladin.

"Kolivan told me you lasted longer than anyone ever has in those battles."

That meant nothing, he should've figured out the exit sooner. The only reason he was in there so long was because he was too impatient to think things through and figure it out.

"You don't have to keep this up."

"What…what are you talking about?" Keith questioned taking a step back. Something didn't feel right…

"Just give them the knife Keith, let's get out of here," Shiro continued ignoring the panic that Keith knew he wasn't hiding. Something was very wrong.

-.-

"What is this?" Shiro questioned. "Is that a hologram?"

"His suit has the ability to create a virtual mindscape," Kolivan answered. "It reflects the wearer's greatest hopes and fears. And right now, your friend desperately wants to see you."

Shiro looked at this twisted version of himself standing in front of Keith, he felt sick. What were these trials doing to his best friend, his brother? They were literally using him against Keith. Why? Keith had done nothing to deserve that…_thing_ that was toying with him. Sure that knife may've been questionable, but Keith was admimant that he had it his whole life. He had to be telling the truth to some degree.

Right?

-.-

"What is it with you and that thing?" Shiro questioned, his voice practically turning into a growl as he motioned to the knife in Keith's hand.

"Shiro, I know there's a lot I haven't told you, a lot I haven't been all that honest about. But this is one of the last things I have left of my past. It's my chance to learn who I really am," he confessed.

"You already know who you are, a Paladin of Voltron. We're all the family you need."

"Takashi, you're my brother, but please understand I have to do this," Keith pleaded. Shiro needed to understand why this was so important to him.

"No. You don't, so just give them the knife!"

"I can't do that," he said, standing up straighter feeling his ribs realign. Why was Shiro being so pushy about this? He was never like that before. Even right before the start of the trial he finally surrendered and agreed to let Keith go through with it. What changed?

"Just give up the knife Keith! You're only thinking of yourself, as usual!"

Keith didn't bother to hide his flinch. Shiro…Shiro didn't really think that did he? Was he really being selfish? He could sense Yorak's distress at the thought, evidently the ghost didn't feel the same way. _"Keith, I know Shiro as well as you do. This isn't right. I think he might be a fake."_

Keith could agree to that, Shiro wasn't acting like himself. "I've made my choice," he said quietly, refusing to make eye contact with one of the few people he called family.

"The you've chosen to be alone," Shiro barked, whirling on his heel and storming away towards a bright light.

Bile crawled up his throat. What if he was wrong? What if that was just Shiro finally speaking his mind, saying what he really thought? "Shiro! Wait!" he called taking a few steps forwards.

Wind ruffled his hair and Keith stopped dead in his tracks. He stood on a patch of grass near a railing, staring out over a sprawling city surrounded by gleaming white walls, the moon-sized Traveler flying above.

He…he was home?

An explosion sounded and Keith turned, looking in the direction past the hangars and towards the mountains. Smoke, why was there smoke? Did another of Amanda's or Cayde's experiments blow up again?

"Keith?"

Said young man froze at that voice, he knew that accent, it was the same one he worked to hide while growing up in order not to get made fun of while he lived on Earth. Gulping, Keith slowly turned to see a man in white and red armor, a black sash on his hip, dark blue eyes, brown hair, a small scar on the right eyebrow perched on the spires jutting out from the walls, letting Guardians mount and dismount their dragons and wyvern.

"P-Pop?" he gasped looking at the man he hadn't seen in years.

A wide smile broke out on the older Guardian's face as he got up, swinging over the railing. "You're home, son."

Another explosion rocked the walls.

"It's alright Pal, don't worry 'bout what's goin' on over there," Allen reassured putting a hand on his shoulder. "We'll be fine as long as we stay here. Don't ya wanna to stay and catch up? Hear about the Red War?"

"Of course I do."

Allen smiled, putting his hands on his hips with a chuckle. "Son, so many years've passed. Look how much you've grown. I've got almost as much to tell you as I'm sure you have'ta tell me."

The explosions began again, and Keith looked back towards the smoke, looking at everyone else in confusion. Why was no one panicking? Was it a drill? A Crucible? Gambit? Cayde letting the younglings play with the missile launchers again? "What is that?" he questioned walking over to the boardwalk as a strong hand rested on his shoulder.

"Trust me kiddo, everything's fine."

Shrugging out of the grip, Keith stepped out into the open and froze. It was the desert, Earth, back at his house. There was a Galra ship razing everything to the ground, he could hear people screaming. He could see Red, up on a ridge, he had to get to her! His dad could round up the others! Start an evacuation, get the civilians out as any remaining Guardians handled the invaders.

"Dad! I've gotta go! There's people that need us to—" he said turning to find himself in the livingroom of their house.

His father stood near the bookshelf, holding the knife. "Don't you wanna know about where you came from?" he asked holding up the glowing blade. "Your mother gave this to me, she wanted you to have it."

"Mom?" he whispered quietly. These were the answers he wanted, but…he couldn't just abandon those people.

"Don't worry. She'll be here soon."

-.-

Shiro watched as Keith collapsed to the floor, seeming to be in pain. These people were messing with his head! Shiro knew all too well on how it felt to have someone mess with his head, it was still difficult for him to determine what was real because of Haggar's experiments. He couldn't let that happen to his little brother. "You need to get him out of there!" he said turning to Kolivan. Keith had to be done. He figured out their stupid trick with the fighting, he didn't give in to the pressure of someone he trusted, the trails had to be over now!

"He can decide when to leave."

"You're messing with his mind! You're going to kill him!"

The masked rebel leader looked at him through the glowing mask. "Knowledge or death, Shiro."

He really hated that damn Galra mantra and any variation of it. Whirling around, he stormed to the doors, he'd had enough watching this torture. Keith needed him. "I'm calling this off."

Two of the Blades stepped in his way.

-.-

"Dad! Please! Just tell me quickly! I have to know!" Keith pleaded shifting nervously from foot to foot as he stood near the door. "Where did the knife come from? What does it mean?"

"Your mother's almost here," he said. "She'll explain everything, I promise."

There was the sound of a bomb dropping and Keith ducked as the fiery light flashed outside. They were getting closer. "Pa! I can't wait around anymore! I have to go!" he said turning towards the door and grabbing the knob.

"If you go out that door, you will never find out who you are."

Keith could feel the tears pricking his eyes. Why? Why couldn't his father just tell him? Why wouldn't Yorak tell him? Why was everyone so insistent on keeping him from knowing his mother? Keeping him from knowing who he was?

Looking back at his pop, he felt his heart sink. He knew this could very well be the last time he ever saw him. "Goodbye Pop."

Opening the door, he walked out into the red light.

-.-

"The Red Lion's moving!" Allura exclaimed as they all shot up hearing an enraged roar.

"We've gotta get down there!"

"It won't be ready for five more minutes!" Hunk informed.

"Hold on, we don't know that they're in trouble. They could just be getting ready to come back to base," Jaz said trying to calm everyone down before it all fell into pandemonium.

Red fired at the base.

"Nope, Keith's in trouble," Jaz deflated. What did he do? She told him not to do anything stupid!

-.-

Shiro stopped struggling against the agents restraining him as the base shook. Looking back at the screens, his heart stopped as the cameras broke into static. What was—Red. It had to be Red, she was unusually protective of Keith. She had to have felt he was in danger.

A blade ran in bringing words of confirmation. "The Red Lion is attacking the base! It's trying to break through!"

"It has a link with Keith! It knows when he's in danger. It's coming for him," he warned.

Some of the roof caved in and the blades jumped. Taking the opportunity, Shiro elbowed one in the gut and pulled himself out of the other's grip, sprinting out into the hall. He needed to reach Keith. With Red attacking like this she could bring down something on top of him!

Sprinting into the room, Shiro was releaved to see Keith untouched by debris and slowly regaining consciousness. Being careful of the wounded shoulder, he lifted Keith to his feet, slinging an arm over his shoulder for support. "Keith are you ok?"

"Stop what you're doing!"

"What're you talkin' 'bout?" Keith grunted, almost sounding like he was slurring. Shiro cursed, he either had a concussion or was feeling after-effects of the mind manipulation. "What's goin' on?"

The area rumbled again as Red attacked.

"Call off your beast!"

"Move out of the way! We're leaving!" Shiro demanded tightening his grip, they might need to run, Keith was in no condition to fight.

"You're not leaving with that blade! It does not belong to you. You failed to awaken it!"

"What does that mean?!" Keith demanded sounding more like himself.

"Give up the blade!" Antok hissed running for them.

Shiro growled and activated his arm. Keith wouldn't fight so hard to keep a knife for no reason, there had to be some degree of truth in what he was saying. He was not going to let them take it.

"Wait!" Keith called holding it out. "Just take the knife."

Shiro lowered his arm in surprise. Why? He'd fought so hard to keep it and now…

"It doesn't matter where I come from. I know who I am. We all need to work together to defeat Zarkon, if that means I give up my knife, fine. Take it."

The hilt began glowing and Shiro shielded his eyes from the light. "You've awoken the blade."

Seriously, what did that mean?

The light faded and Shiro stared, the knife had been replaced by a sword. Guess that's what they meant.

"The only way this is possible is if Galra blood runs through your veins."

Keith froze and Shiro watched his brother's world shatter in his indigo eyes.


	21. Belly of the Beast

Chapter 21

**A/N: once again, I only own this story and the OCs.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashback/telepathy_**

Keith remained silent as they walked towards Red, it was painfully obvious that the Red Paladin was not handling this new information about his heritage well; not that Shiro could blame him.

"Hey, Keith," Shiro started, breaking the tense silence, "do you want to—"

"There's nothing to discuss," he replied coldly putting on his helmet. "Can you stay in the back and keep an eye of them?" Keith motioned to Kolivan and Antok whom were joining them on their trip back to the Castle of Lions.

It struck Shiro more as a strong suggestion than a request, but he got the gist, Keith needed some time to himself to sort out his problems. He'd open up in his own time.

Keith sat down in the pilot's chair, sealing the door between the cockpit and the hold. Waving his hand Yorak materialized and flew up. "How long have you known?"

The small blue eye looked down, trying to appear fascinated with the controls. "…I've known since I picked you. It's been so long since I saw your mom, but I do remember her. She was really nice, nothing like those in the empire if that's what you're worried about."

That felt like betrayal, his own ghost chose to lie to him. They were literally bonded for eternity until they suffered a permanent death likely at the hands of a beast, and his own ghost blatantly lied to him.

"Keith…" Yorak trailed off before flying over, nuzzling his cheek. "I'm so sorry! I should've told you, but your dad wanted to be the one to tell you, and on Earth I figured it was for the best, and then we got out here and…and…"

"And what?"

Yorak grew quiet, "I…I didn't want you to think of yourself as a monster," he voiced, silencing Keith. "You already feel bad enough about everything you have to hold back, and I remember all the things those people used to say about you…I thought, I thought if you knew you'd be even worse on yourself than you are now."

His explanation took Keith aback. He was aware Yorak could pick up on his thoughts and feelings, and he worried himself over Keith's health, but Keith would never think his little ghost would've been so worried just because he had a few bad days every now and then. Days he hated being different from everyone else. "Yorak?" Keith spoke softly cradling the light in his hands.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be acting like this—"

"No, no…I should've seen what I was doing to you," he apologized, "I never thought you were the blame of me being different, I love being a Guardian. It's just…guess we now know why I could never click with normal Earthling kids."

"Why would you want to? Where's the fun and being normal?" Yorak said and Keith felt a smile tug his lips.

"There you go again, making me feel better when I try to help you."

"Making you feel better makes me feel better."

Despite the day's revelation's Keith couldn't hold back a soft smile as he patted his ghost. "Please never change."

"You're stuck with me Guardian, to infinity and beyond."

"Keith?" Shiro called knocking on the door.

"Hmm?"

"Have you let Allura know we're on our way back?"

"No, that's your job, I'm currently keeping us from falling into pits of darkness that're almost as black as my soul," he replied adjusting Red as they started to stray a little off from the designated path.

-.-

Keith stood nervously at the exit ramp with Shiro and the Blades. He was honestly hoping that they would keep quiet about his…heritage, he didn't want any distrust to form just because he was part of the race they were currently trying to stop from taking over the universe.

Kolivan made the first move, walking down the ramp towards Allura. Coming to a stop, he removed his hood and Keith could now see his face not that it and the mask were gone. "Princess Allura," he said calmly kneeling in respect, "it's good to see that the rumors are true. You're still alive after all these years."

"So is Zarkon. Can we consider you our ally in the fight against him?" she questioned coldly.

"Yes, but we have little time to discuss this, I just received word from our spy inside the Galran hierarchy that they've become aware of our presence. So the timetable for our plan has been moved up."

"How soon do we need to begin?" Shiro questioned.

"Now."

"Here's one thing I want to know," Jaz said stepping forwards, "why was Red attacking the base?"

All eyes turned to Kolivan and Keith and Shiro shared a glance. "Nothing but a misunderstanding," Keith replied crossing his arms defensively. Tossing a warning glare at the leader of the Blades, he prayed he got the hint to shut up.

Apparently, he did not.

"Your Red Paladin took part in the Trials of Marmora."

"Why?" Allura questioned, sounding suspicious.

"He had a weapon in his possession that we believed he stole, in truth it merely showed the Galran blood he shares with us," Kolivan stated and Keith froze as all eyes turned on him each with varying emotions. Lance looked suspiscious, Hunk looked as confused as he felt, Pidge looked curious and Keith could see the questions begin running through her head, Jaz looked surprised, and Allura…he could see the rage growing.

"What."

Out of the corner of his eye, Keith saw Shiro and Jaz tense up at her tone. The Princess took a step towards him and Shiro moved closer, ready to act like a shield if need be.

"You lied to us."

Keith raised his hands in his defense, "Allura, I swear, this is news to me too."

She narrowed her eyes, betrayal and distrust showing through. Whirling on her heel, she stormed away. "Let's get to the bridge to discuss plans."

Everyone began following, except Keith, Jaz, and Shiro. "Hey, are you—?"

"I'm fine," he replied probably a little too fast, but right now Keith didn't care. They hated him, and he knew it. The question remaining was how long did he have till they cast him aside and replaced him?

Allura could most certainly find a replacement, of that, Keith had no doubt.

"Keith," Shiro said, placing a hand on his shoulder and breaking him out of his thoughts, "lets get your injuries checked out. That shoulder has to hurt."

Keith shrugged, "Shiro, I'm fine, it was a scratch. Besides, I've always been a quick healer."

That seemed to do little the calm the older man's nerves as he watched the wheels turn in Shiro's head, probably trying to think of some way to get Keith to the infirmary.

"At least let me check," Jaz said crossing her arms.

Looking at Shiro, Keith sighed, there was no getting out of this. Removing his chest plate, he pulled the shoulder down, revealing the cut that was already looking a few weeks old. "See? Fine. Must be my, Galra lineage or something," he lied pulling the shirt back up and picking up his chest plate. "I'm going to go get changed."

Shiro and Jaz stayed silent as their younger friend left the room quickly, the elder man sighing and running a hand through his hair disbelievingly once the doors closed. "I can't believe this, I mean, I always suspected Keith was a hybrid, but I figured he was part Awoken."

"Same, there were one or two other races I had in mind, but Galra was never one of them," Jaz stated. "But it makes sense, he has a Galran temperament."

"He's nothing like _them_!" Shiro snarled clenching his fist in anger. He saw how the others looked at his brother, it was the same way people would look at him and Jaz when they were in the arena; like they were monsters, like _Keith_ was a monster.

She raised her hands. "I know, but we just need to give everyone time," Jaz said, "this is news for all of us. But we need to keep a close eye on Allura, you've seen how she treats Galra."

That made Shiro pale, Allura all but cheered when she found out he ejected Sendak into space. She said there was no need to feel guilty over handling a beast. With Ulaz, she wanted him in cuffs even after Shiro and Jaz vouched for him, she even continued her distrust after he sacrificed himself to save them. He wasn't sure he wanted to imagine what she could do to Keith if they ever ended up alone.

Most of the time he was certain that Keith could hold his own, but against Allura, even _he_ had trouble, and Shiro had once been a gladiator. Nodding in agreement, they made their way up to the bridge. The faster they got this plan done, the sooner they could defeat Zarkon, find the rest of their crew, go home and leave this nightmare behind them.

-.-

"WHAT'D I MISS?!" Hunk screamed shooting upright as he woke himself up snoring.

"Oh, nothing important, we've just discovered a way to defeat Zarkon," Lance answered.

"Really, I dozed off for ten minutes and you've already figured out how to defeat the forces of evil?"

"You've been asleep for three hours!" Pidge exclaimed.

"Thank God, the snoring's stopped," Jaz praised walking back in with a cup and rejoinging the others around a table with a hologram of Zarkon's ship on it. "What's I miss?"

"I think we've got something here," Shiro stated. "It's dangerous and there's a lot of moving parts, but if we can coordinate everything just right, then—"

"Zarkon's reign will be at an end," Kolivan finished, and the savagery that's poisoned our universe can be finally cleansed."

"Well, mostly, there's still the Hive we have to worry about," Jaz reminded.

"True, but with the Galra empire out of the way, may more planets will be able to turn their forces back to handling them," Allura stated.

"It'll have to be one united army, because otherwise they'll just end up like Fundament, Harmony, Qugua, Ammonite, Dakaua, Taishibeth, Ecumene, should I continue?" Keith listed before noticing everyone else was looking at him. Cursing internally at his own slip up, he just crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Am I the only person looking up the history?"

"The Hivian gods were thrown into disarry years ago with the deaths of Oryx and Crota, his sisters haven't been heard from since their disappearances, I believe it's safe to say that the Hive may no longer be a concern," Kolivan replied and Keith and Jaz shared a disbelieving look.

"Wait…they're dead?" Coran questioned. "Permanently? I thought Hive Gods couldn't die."

"Indeed, that is what we all believed. Until Crota was slain. His killers used his death to lead Oryx into a trap, and permanently killed them within their own Acsendent Realms. The allies we once had were responsible," the leader of the Blade replied. "As of now, the Hive remains without a ruler and thus the threat is dimished."

Keith's head shot up and he and Jaz shared a worried glance, these guys knew the Guardians, more so, they were _allies._ Now Keith could see how he was related to the Galra, his dad was responsible for maintaining one or two of the few alliances the Guardians had in place with those outside of their home system. He could've been in charge of the Blade's alliance, it would explain his Galran blood and the memories of some alien beings resembling Galra when he was younger.

But that also meant that he'd be a lot easier to recognize, especially if he pulled his ghost out. He could pass Yorak off as a stolen drone like his Pidge had done with Rover if he was ever caught off guard by the Paladins. To those who'd seen Guardians and their ghosts before, that wasn't likely. And just like that the universe's biggest target would be aimed at him and his friends.

"Wait, are these the same allies Ulaz mentioned?" Pidge questioned raising her hand. "The ones who mysteriously vanished?"

Kolivan nodded, "Indeed, we've been out of contact for some time, the last representative we sent informed us the region's tentative peace has broken into all-out war. As for who is currently winning, that remains unclear."

"If that's true and the Hive are out of the picture, then we could be taking out the last major threat to the universe," Shiro breathed.

"You've done it Shiro," Kolivan said.

"We did it together," he replied shaking the rebel commander's hand.

"As long as we all stick to the plan, it should work," Allura stated, tossing an accusing glare at Kolivan and his men.

"It will work," Kolivan replied firmly, not backing down. "Perhaps then, you'll learn that not all Galra are as bad as Zarkon."

Allura frowned, glancing towards a certain Red Paladin, "I hope not."

"Ulaz was right to trust you all," Antok spoke.

"He sacrificed everything to bring us together," Jaz smiled before tapping her chin, "wait…that sounds wrong. Makes it sound like we're dating and no offense, but I don't think you're my type."

"Neither are you mine," Antok replied and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"You know what, let's just honor Ulaz's sacrifice by taking down Zarkon," Shiro suggested.

"That works."

"So what's the plan?" Hunk inquired walking over.

"The plan is amazing!" Lance exclaimed jumping onto the table. "First: we infect Zarkon's ship with a virus!" He tapped the hologram and it turned red before the Blue Paladin jumped to the side and made another hologram. "Then we make an extra-large wormhole and lure Zarkon inside of it, zapping him a bajillion lightyears away! And once he pops out on the other side all like, 'Oh, why isn't my ship working?' Voltron kicks his butt! Pew-pew-pew! Womp, womp, womp! Huh! Hi-yah!" he put his finger over his nose, "'I'll form the head!' That's what you'll say Shiro!"

"Oh God," Jaz snicked holding back her laughter as Shiro blushed.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! We won for all time suckers!" Lance exclaimed before yelping as Pidge tripped him.

"Calm down."

"Wow…so this is it," Hunk breathed and they all grew quiet. It was really it, they were going to finish this, finally.

Katie stepped forwards, breaking the silence, "I guess the only question is: when do we strike?"

"As soon as we build a teludav big enough to wormhole Zarkon's ship," Coran stated.

"Aw man, that thing again?" Hunk groaned, tossing his head back. "Does that mean we need more scaultrite?"

"That's just one of the many thing's we'll need," Allura answered.

"Am I sensing a trip back to the space mall?" Hunk smiled.

"No," Jaz stated. "This'll require more scaultrite than any one shop will carry. We're going to have to harvest it from the source."

"For this plan to work, we'll need to split up," Coran informed. "Keith, Hunk, you two will be responsible for getting the scaultrite. Shiro, Lance, and Pidge, you three need to rescue a prisoner that can help us build the taludav. Allura, Jaz, you two are responsible for getting the Balmera crystal we need; do _not_ kill each other. I'll go to Olkarion and let them know of what's going on to rally our forces. If any one of us fails, the entire plan fails."

-.-

"Stay safe buddy," Shiro said as he and Keith quickly hugged as the Red and Yellow Paladins prepared to start their mission.

"I will."

Pulling apart, Keith stumbled as Jaz jumped onto his back. "Don't die on us, ok! I need someone to help me torment Lance!"

"Hey!"

Jaz ignored him, "And Keith, don't worry about your bloodline, I mean, look at all the assholes we've dealt with before? Griffin! He was from a 'good family' and you remember how he was."

"How could I forget? I punched him in the face."

"You still shouldn't have done that," Shiro chided.

"He deserved it!" Jaz defended. "I would've done it myself if Keith didn't beat me to it! Anyways, my point is, blood doesn't always define who you are, got it?!"

"Yes."

"Good, group hug!" she cheered grabbing her two best friends.

"Seriously, don't kill Allura while we're gone," Keith teased and Shiro chuckled as Jaz made a scandalized gasp.

"I would never! Do you really have so little faith in me?"

Neither hesitated in their answer, "Yes."

"Ok, granted you two have a right to worry, I'll do my best, maybe just dye all her clothes purple or something."

"Don't start a fight you can't win, Jazmyne," Shiro reminded.

Jaz smacked him upside the head, "Well Takashi, didn't I tell that to you during our prank war? Who won that by the way?"

"You did."

"Exactly! I refuse to lose to a preppy princess!"

"The bigger they are, the harder the fall."

"You two are horrible," she sighed before the three burst out laughing as Keith walked over to join a teary Hunk at the ramp of the Yellow Lion.

"Hunk, I wish you luck on your mission," Allura said smiling at him, not bothering to even glance at Keith as she began talking with Lance and Pidge about their mission.

_"Rude,"_ Yorak muttered as they flew out of the hangar towards the open wormhole, "_I hope Jaz dyes her hair violet."_

-.-

Jaz joined Shiro and Pidge in the Blue Lion's hangar as they prepared to head off towards the prison this Slav was being held.

"So Princess, how about a kiss for good luck," Lance said puckering his lips.

Without hesitation, Coran lifted one of the mice off Allura's shoulder and pressed it to Lance's lips, making the Blue Paladin yelp and wipe at his mouth viciously.

"I got a pic," Jaz smirked showing the photo to Shiro.

"You seriously can't stop tormenting them can you?" he sighed.

"You know me too well, the universe is full of people waiting to get annoyed. Who am I to deny them?" she smiled and he rolled his eyes. "Just so you know, singing obnoxiously loud irritates Galra very much, so if you get caught just do that. They'll probably go away after a while."

"…Why do I feel like this is something you did before?"

"I did it to the witch herself."

Shiro's shoulders slumped, "…It's a wonder you made it out alive."

"I know, but seriously, don't make me come to rescue your gay little arse."

Shiro raised his hands in defense, "We'll be fine. Just promise me you and Allura won't fight."

She pressed her lips together before groaning in defeat, "Fine, just as lone as she doesn't start anything."

Shiro grinned, relieved at least she wouldn't be making it a mission to drive Allura to kill her. With a wave he joined the others walking up the Blue Lion's ramp, before like the Yellow Lion they took off into the wormhole.

-.-

"Why does Allura get to take a leasurely trip to the Balmera, while we have to fly into the belly of a giant space worm to get scaultrite," Hunk whined.

"Hunk, Allura is trapped alone with _Jaz_," Keith emphasized, "that mission is going to be anything but leasurely. We all have a job to do to build this giant teludav, no one said it was going to be easy."

"But I always get the worst missions," he continued, "go to a Galra-occupied planet to get the Yellow Lion, go to a Galra-occupied Balmera to get a crystal, and now: go into the belly of a beast with the only alien team member."

Keith barely kept his eyebrow from twitching. Sure he spent most of his childhood on another planet, in another solar system, but he was still human, and he lived a decent portion of his life on Earth. Jaz and Darvah's races weren't considered aliens anymore, he wasn't any different. "I'm not an alien Hunk."

"Well, you're kind of an alien," he remarked, "more alien than me, you're at least some alien, I'm none alien."

This conversation was going nowhere. "Let's just focus on the mission."

"Yeah…Was your mom alien? Your grandpa? How Galra are you?"

"I don't know," Keith replied with a shrug. It could be worse, at least Hunk seemed curious instead of frightened or infuriated as Allura had been. At least here he didn't need to worry about being stabbed in the back, the Yellow Paladin was way too nice for that.

"Did the Blade of Marmora like teach you the secret handshake or something?" he asked looking back at him.

"No. No one said anything."

Hunk gave him a sympathetic look. "The Blade of Marmora…they're real tight-lipped aren't they?"

Keith chuckled dryly, "No kidding."

"Alright, I get that your society is secret and all, but is everything a secret?"

"Hunk, I literally joined a day ago! I don't know anything! I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that almost everything I've known about myself has been a lie. It's bad enough to deal with that and deal with Allura hating my guts now. Can you please lay off?"

"Allura doesn't hate you," Hunk smiled looking apologetic. "You just need to give her time to accept the fact that you're Galra, the race that destroyed her entire planet and all of her people…" he trailed off thinking about his words, "ok, she might hate you a little bit."

"Thanks Hunk," he deadpanned. "Now we at least know who's responsible if I end up stabbed in the back."

"Come on Keith, I don't think she hates you that much."

Keith sighed, no point in trying to argue, Hunk was just too good, he couldn't see or imagine the bad in others without seeing it for himself. "Let's just watch the video Coran uploaded and stay on task. We need to find out how to collect this stuff."

"Too bad we didn't ask Jaz, it sounded like she knew where scaultrite comes from," Hunk sighed.

"Well it's a common lesson in Reef schools," Keith commented absentmindedly as he opened a console searching up the video, "ecology of the universe or something like that. Scaultrite comes from an animal that lives in the void of space that's known as a Weblum, however I can't remember what it eats. But I do know that they're huge."

"Which is why we have to go into the belly of the beast."

"Yep."

"Wow, you know a lot about the Awoken," Hunk remarked, before going quiet for a moment. "Hey, I have a question?"

Keith raised an eyebrow, he had questioned before, what was stopping him now? "About what?"

"How do you and Jaz know each other?" Hunk inquired. "I mean, I figured that you knew each other from the Garrison like Shiro, but from the sounds of it you two have known each other longer than that. I mean, you don't have to answer, I was just curious, that's all."

"Uh…well, I spent a lot of time in the Reef, my dad works with their military," Keith confessed and Hunk made an understanding sound.

"Man, that's so cool. You were already going to space before the Garrison. Well, going to the Reef is pretty common, but usually its just tourist stops and ports. I bet you saw a lot more."

Keith smiled slightly, "Yeah, I never thought about it like that."

Hunk raised his eyebrows and glanced at him questioningly. "See anything cool? Pidge told me that they have this crazy engine in the main city that functions purely on gravitational forces of the surrounding asteroids providing energy to the city, but I don't think that's true. Because look at Jaz, she's a mage, how do we know that they aren't using their mystic power stuff for that?"

"The Techeun are responsible for a lot of that stuff," Keith answered. "It's mostly magic, but you might want to ask Jaz about the specifics, she tried explaining it to me once and it all went over my head."

"Oh! Did you ever eat this fruit called Xyis?!" Hunk exclaimed. "I swear to God that was my favorite to buy at the store whenever the shipments came in! I was so bummed when that stupid plague wiped out the crop, they tasted just like cookie dough."

Keith snorted, Xyis was one of the Terran fruits they traded with the Awoken, it really shouldn't've been surprising it ended up on Earth. "Yeah, but if we go back to the Reef I think I know where we can get some. Darvah planted some seeds a while back, but I can't garuntee its alive."

"Hope is enough for me," Hunk grinned. "So what was the coolest thing you saw there?"

Keith shrugged, "I mean the royal court was cool, but the balls were a pain to attend." As Hunk seemingly sputtered at the new information, Keith finally located the file. "Found the video," he said opening it. The screen flickered and they stared at an image of Coran with short hair and sideburns.

**"Hello brave Altean!"**

"No way," Hunk chortled, "Is that Coran?"

**"So, you're about to into the belly of a Weblum to harvest scaultrite. Good for you! Scaultrite is an important substance with thousands of commercial and industrial uses, like: fabrication foam, insect night vision goggles, teludav—"** Coran was cut off in a burst of static.

_"Uh oh, looks like it's degraded," _Yorak informed.

"O cas saa fhaf. Uey veylds'f haddas fe lamambal eyl Vablym lassess veyld uey? [I can see that. You wouldn't happen to remember our Weblum lessons would you?]" Keith murmured.

_"We had those?"_

Keith grimaced, when the Red War started he wasn't due to go scaultrite harvesting for another few years. So basically all they had to go on was a degraded video and his meager knowledge of Weblums.

Fantastic.

**"—Klanmürl lotion and other such lubricants."**

"Why didn't Coran check this?" Hunk groaned pressing a few buttons and the static stopped as Coran came into focus again.

**"I could go on for days! But you've got a Weblum to enter and some scaultrite to collect!"**

_"He is way too excited about this,"_ Yorak groaned and Keith nodded in agreement, there was no way anyone could be this excited about entering the stomach of a gigantic, planet-eating beast—wait…did he remember that right?

** "Oh look! There's a Weblum now!" **Coran waved. **"Hello big fella!"**

A small animation came up beside him, resemebling a creature that reminded Keith of one of the large fish that were often caught in the waters of Wuld. **"Hey Coran! I'm off to eat some planets! There's one now! Nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum, nyum…"**

"Oh quiznak."

**"We'll see you soon!"** Coran called after. **"As you probably remember for school, Weblum are enormous creatures that're an integral part of keeping our universe functioning. It survives off the—left over from dead planets,"** he continued as a body diagram took over the screen. **"It then reconverts quintessence remnants by—becoming the building blocks of new solar systems. Incredible isn't it?"**

Keith shared a nervous glance with Hunk as it cut into static again.

**"Of course, these are no gentle giants. They're actually quite deadly! Which leads to rule number one—it's important so listen closely. Stay away from its—You got that?"**

_"NO!"_ they all exclaimed.

**"It's like a rhyme! Say it with me: stay away from its—!"**

"Come on!" Hunk whined.

**"Other things to remember include avoiding poisonous—eye sockets—could lead to certain death!"**

This video was not helpful. Not. At. All.

"Whoa, Keith look," Hunk said motioning to the window. "What are those?"

Keith leaned forwards, gazing out at the debris warily. "They look like…" he trailed off as his light flickered within him. The release of pressure was an immense relief, but its implications weren't. Something happened here, something bad. And the realization made his stomach drop. "…dead planets."

Hunk pulled up a scanner, looking confused and frightened. "That's strange, the chart says these planets should still be thriving."

Keith clenched his jaw, that was just what he feared.

"What do you think happened? Asteroid?" Hunk suggested.

Keith looked away from the Yellow Paladin, gazing out at the debris. No asteroid could've done this…but there were several races that could. "Something tells me they died an unnatural death."

Hunk seemed to freeze as the implication of his words hit him.

A rumble shook the lion as a massive blue worm moved past them through the dead planets, the spines on its body alone dwarfing the heaviest Lion of Voltron, making Hunk yelp and pulled Yellow back.

"Guess that ancient Altean weblum tracker really did work," Keith remarked gazing up at it. Now, he could understand why scaultrite harvesting was an exercise done after the age of eighteen for Kiin and was a hated chore for all Guardians. Going into those beasts had to be a nightmare.

"We have to get out of here! We haven't watched all the video yet! We don't know what to do!"

"We're not leaving," Keith stated. "You fly, keep distance, I'll skim through the video."

**"So you've made it into the Weblum's first stomach!"**

"Rewind!"

"I know!" Keith snapped quickly pressing the button.

**"So you've identified a Weblum. Great! Now remember rule number one: Stay away from its face."**

"Wait…that's rule number one?" Hunk said and they both slowly turned to look out the window into the face of the Weblum. "WE BROKE RULE NUMBER ONE!"

The beats began opening its mouth and Keith could see a white light emanating from the back of its throat. So weblums could breathe fire too, great. "GET US OUT OF THE WAY! NOW!"

Grabbing onto Hunk's seat, Keith braced himself as the Yellow Paladin drove them upwards out of the way of the blast originating from the weblum. The blast died before another one came, making Hunk pulled back again before it fried them.

**"A weblum's natural defense is a venmous laser, deadly acid—total annilation—death monster—you'll find its blind spot on the back of its neck just below the gills."**

**"That's where you get inside!"** cartoon weblum sang. **"if I can't see ya, I can't kill ya!"**

Hunk whipped Yellow around, flying past the weblum's head again before speeding towards their landing sight. Bounding off some of the spines, Hunk began muttering, "This isn't good. This isn't good! This isn't good!"

They rammed into a spine and Keith almost crushed the part of the chair in his hand as they flipped around before crashing on the armor plates, skidding along the surface before Hunk activated his lion's special ability, using the claws to keep them firmly latched onto the beast's backside.

"We're attached to its back, in its blind spot."

"Good," Keith sighed, standing up, "we're going in."

"Wait, what do we do once we're inside?"

**"A quick recap of what to do when you're inside the beast!"**

_"Talk about convenient."_

**"One: Avoid things that want to kill you. Two: Get to the third stomach and find the scaultrite gland. Three: Activate a weblum's defense mechanism to collect the excess materials from the gland. That's the scaultrite!"**

"Seems simple enough."

"Seems under-explained."

"Come on," Keith said turning to walk out ignoring the exaggerated sigh from behind.

Exiting Yellow's mouth, they flew over to the gills, watching them open and close. _"…We're in the vacuum of space. What is it breathing?"_

Keith's eyes widened, that was a good question.

Watching it open again, Keith hit the thrusters on his jetpack, speeding in with Hunk on his heels, flying through just before the gills closed again.

-.-

Macidus walked through the wreckage of his battle with the Titan. He ordered noting to be touched until he found something to support the fact that the Red Paladin of Voltron was a Guradian. So far, nothing. The Guardian was good at covering his tracks.

But then again, judging from the reaction his skin had in response to his attack when they fought, the Red Paladin wasn't a normal Guardian.

No matter, he would make Haggar regret her choice to demote him. Just as soon as he found evidence. Driud chambers never had cameras because the High Priestess didn't want just anyone privy to their art, unfortunately that meant there was no footage on the change from Paladin to Guardian.

Looking down at the pool of quintessence that had been spilled, he smiled, there was blood on some the the glass. And where there was blood, there was always quintessence tying it to the owner.

He just had to make sure the quintessence of broken vat didn't contaminate it. And if that didn't work, the blood could confirm his other theories about the elusive Light Wielder.

Macidus could afford to wait, it was only a matter of time.

-.-

Keith and Hunk descended down into an open chamber filled for steamy, probably smelly, air and small patches of skin near a pool of bubbling stomach acid.

_"Nice place,"_ Yorak remarked sounding as disgusted as Keith probably looked. Now it made sense on why the scaultrite harvesting missions were so despised, it was disgusting. It also made sense on why it was waited on till after Kiin came of age, Keith was certain he would've hurled if he came any time before now.

"Ugh! Yuck! Am I standing on a mucous pocket? Gross! I do not like mucous!" Hunk gagged stumbling back from the patch he landed in. "Is that steaming stomach acid? Look, it—right over there! Oh man! I really hope I don't see any blood!"

"Hunk!" Keith exclaimed whacking him upside the head. "Knock it off. You're freaking yourself out."

"No! Standing inches away from a puss-bubble's freaking me out," he replied stamping his foot down on it before turning green as goop splattered out.

"Look, we're inside a disgusting worm, there's no way to sugarcoat it. We're going to need that big brain of yours if we want to make it through. Will you be all right?"

Hunk continued to look sick as he started gazing wildly at their surroundings.

"I said: Will you be all right?" Keith repeated.

The Yellow Paladin's gaze fell to him and he nodded. "Ok, ok," he took a deep breath, "I'll be ok."

"Good," he said patting his teammate on the shoulder, "I've gotta be able to count on you. Besides, no one knows an explosive digestive tract like you." With that, he started walking towards the acid pool, there had to be a way to get to the third stomach from there.

"Wait, wait wait…did you just make a joke?" Hunk squeaked before he bounced a tiny bit. "Seriously, that was a joke wasn't it?"

Keith rolled his eyes and activated his jetpack, flying to the next dry area near the stomach walls.

"You're saying I throw up a lot. I get it, it's funny!" Hunk called chasing after with a laugh. "I do. Wow, Galra Keith is way funnier than regular Keith."

Keith furrowed his brows at that, he didn't change. At least, he thought he didn't, being Galra didn't have that big of an effect on his personality. He's always had a sense of humor, just who got to see it was a different story. "Ok, we need to find a way around the stomach acid into the third stomach."

The walls before them opened, revealing small pores allowing little jellyfish-like creatures to come floating out.

"What are these things?"

"Uh…I don't know, maybe bacteria?"

"Have you ever seen bacteria this big!" Keith snapped.

_"Keith! The video! These things were on the video!"_

"Se gōntan ziry ivestragon skoros īlis? [And did it say what they were?]" Keith questioned.

"Wait, they seem friendly," Hunk said as two floated up to him landing on his head and another flew over onto his hand. "They like me. They're tickling me!"

_"THINGS THAT WANT TO KILL US!"_

Quiznak. "HUNK! GET THOSE OFF OF YOU NOW!" he shouted and the Yellow paladin yelped shaking them off.

"THAT'S NOT TICKLING IT'S HOT ACID! OH! THEY WANNA KILL US!"

"You think?" Keith growled pulling out his sword.

"I think they're part of the creature's digestive system. They're trying to break down the food and we're the food!"

Slicing through a group flying at them, Keith glanced at Hunk making sure he was alright. Sure enough, he was blasting away at the enzyme-creatures with his cannon.

_"Five to your left!"_

Swinging his sword Keith took out the next wave before he heard Hunk shouting, before turning back to watch him get absorbed into the wall. "HUNK!" he shouted sprinting over placing his hands on the wall. "Yorak! Where'd he go?!"

_"I'd say he just got absorbed into the circulatory system."_

/Ugh, I'm surrounded by blood. I hate blood!/ Hunk groaned.

"Hunk listen to me, you need to find a way out of the circulatory system," he ordered slicing at a few more of the digestive enzymes as they flew at him, backing him towards the stomach acid. Glancing between his two options, Keith grit his teeth. "I'm outnumbered here! Meet me in the third stomach!"

Putting his sword away, Keith dove into the stomach acid, glacing back at the surface, relieved to find the enzymes weren't following. _"Keith, you have about five minutes before this acid will eat through the armor and kill you."_

"Copy." Gazing at his surroundings, Keith found a pore or opening of somesort at the bottom. Most likely it was the way to the next stomach. Activating his jetpack, he shot down towards it, hitting it as hard as he could.

It gave way a lot easier than he thought, because before he knew it Keith was falling into open air. Looking around for something to grab on, he saw the wreckage of a ship sticking out of the digestive tract.

Talk about convenient.

The thrusters of his jetpack burst to life once again, allowing him to crash unceremoniously on the cockpit window. "That sucked," he muttered sitting up on his knees before freezing as he stared into the cockpit.

In the pilot's seat, an armored figure sat looking up at him.

"No way." Regaining his composure, Keith tapped on the window, trying to see if they would react. "Hey! Are you alive in there?!"

They nodded.

Standing up, he pulled out his sword quickly slicing at the tendrils of tissue that had slowly started to entangle the crashed ship. "Don't move. I'm here to help," he said before stabbing his sword through the window.

Probably not his best first impression, but whatever, this guy would've died otherwise.

Carving the window off, he put his bayard away and tossed the cover to the side before stretching out a hand. "Here." The pilot nodded, taking his hand as he helped them up.

Then he saw the symbol of the Galra Empire on their shoulder.

Using the existing leverage he had on their arm, Keith twisted it, yanking them past him as he grabbed their weapon, leveling the blaster at the soldier as they turned to face him. "You're Galra."

_"Keith, we have bigger priorities at the moment."_

Hearing squeaking, Keith's head snapped up as he saw what Yorak meant. The enzymes were back, and this time there was more than there had been in the stomach. "Not those ryccosg things again."

The Galra soldier pulled up a screen, quickly typing.

"What're you doing?!" he exclaimed before looking down as the ship's alarm began blaring. The self-destruct (still a stupid ship feature in his opinion). "You're turning your ship into a bomb?"

The growing mass of collecting enzymes shot out a volley of the pesky things at them, forcing both Paladin and Galra soldier to jetpack off the ship. An explosion sounded behimd them, and Keith turned on his shield, grabbing the pilot and yanking them behind it with him. The blast hit and they were shot through a membrane, hopefully into the third stomach.

/Keith! Keith, are you there?!/ Hunk called sounding frantic. /Keith! Answer me!/

Keith groaned as he sat up, reaching for his comm, he stopped as he heard the sound off footsteps rushing towards him before he was knocked back to the ground. Rolling to his feet, he growled as he saw the soldier aiming the gun at him before pulling the trigger, making him summon his shield.

Except…the shots didn't hit.

Gazing behind him, he watched as the remains of several enzyme-creatures fell to the ground. "Guess you can keep your weapon," he resigned pulling his shield away and standing up.

_"Keith, according to my scans the third stomach is just beyond that valve over there at the other end."_

"Finally," he sighed flying over, hearing the Galra soldier follow after. Together they pushed the valve open, letting them fly into the third stomach where Hunk was waiting.

"KEITH!" the Yellow Paladin exclaimed flying over and hugging him. "You made it! We both made it! Who's this?"

"Someone I found," he answered. "They don't talk much, and they're Galra."

"So do you guys all know each other?" Hunk asked and Keith tossed him an unamused glare. Now was not the time for Galra jokes, nor was it the time to discuss his heritage. The last thing they needed was word spreading that the Red Paladin of Voltron was part Galra. It could lead to distrust among the people they were trying to save or could end up lumping Voltron with the empire. Both of which were unideal situations. "Are you sure we should be rescuing a Galra soldier right now?"

"We're Paladins of Voltron. We can't just leave people to die, even if they are Galra," Keith reminded sternly. "Now come on. Let's get what we came for and get the nopāzma out."

"Ok, well, that might be a problem too," Hunk said.

"How?"

"The scautrite gland somehow secretes mucus, or saliva, or something gross, which crystallizes. Only problem is, I think, in order for that secretion to start we have to trigger the Weblum's defense mechanism."

"Great," Keith drawled. This mission could not get any worse.

Squelching began to echo around them and they turned to the stomach wall it was originating from, finding the little creatures emerging from it like before.

"Oh māzigon va! Daor aril! [Oh come on! Not Again!]" Keith exclaimed tossing his hands in the air in frustration.

Th enzymes once again huddled close together to create a large mass. Once they were fully clumped, large tendrils began speeding out towards them, forcing the three invaders to dodge. Pulling out his sword, Keith sliced through the one flying at him and Hunk as the Yellow Paladin used his cannon, aiming at the mass.

The cannon's blue beam created a massive hole in the mass, which regew and repaired itself before their eyes as more tendrils came at them.

"THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!" Hunk exclaimed.

Under the growing mass of digestive enzymes, a valve opened pushing gases into the stomach as another valve opened above, funneling the air through the organ, threatening to drag them all out as they held onto different parts of the third stomach.

"I think this thing's getting rid of the excess gas produced from its multiple stomachs!" Hunk called.

"What?"

Hunk laughed, "It's farting!"

That was something Keith could've lived without knowing. The airflow started dying down, and Keith glared at the digestive-aids as they started to regroup after most had been sucked out through the gas release. It wouldn't be long before it reached the size it was before, maybe bigged. "Hunk! What do we need to do to get that scaultrite gland to goop?"

"Oh, uh…wait a second, wait a second, wait second," he said counting on his fingers, "Stay away from its face, the blue laser," he smiled widely, "I know what to do!" Turning on hs pack, Hunk flew up towards the opening releasing the excess digestive gases.

"What?!"

"If we want that third stomach gland to secrete the ooze, I need to get farted out of the weblum's butt and attack the face in the Yellow Lion to get it to fire its laser puke!" Hunk said. "For the sake of the universe, I'll provoke the beast! You two stay here and get that scaultrite."

And that was officially the most disgusting sentence Keith had ever heard in his life. "Hurry! I don't know how long we can hold these things off!" Keith reminded as he dodged out of the way of an incoming attack. Seeing the valve opening, Keith stabbed his blade into the flesh of the stomach, holding on tightly as the vacuum forces tried to pull him out with Hunk.

/I'm out! Heading to Yellow now!/

"Good, don't take your sweet time about it," Keith stated slicing through another attack.

-.-

Macidus strode calmly into the lab with the Red Paladin's blood sample. Placing it on the scanner, he turned back to the sentry that Provok had reportedly attacked, using his magic to analyze the source of damage. The sooner he rooted out this traitor, the sooner he would be off babysitting duty and could get on with his current research on the Red Paladin of Voltron.

The door opened and the newly promoted Commander Thace scowled as he spotted him. "Why are you tampering with evidence?!"

"Commander Thace, I was ordered to assist you in your investigation into the possible traitors on board."

"Ordered by whom?" the Commander growled baring his teeth.

Odd reaction, but then again, no new commander wanted anyone stepping on their toes in their quest for power within the Empire. It was no secret the druids were feared, it was something Macidus reveled in; to watch the weaker commanders attempt to act fearless and brave when in reality they were weak cubs to scared to do what was necessary to achieve power. However, something about Thace's reaction still made him take note.

"Haggar. I've analyzed the sentry that was destroyed just before the sheilds went down."

"The one that was killed by Prorok," Thace scoffed, "I've already examined him."

"So you found the trace elements of Luxite on the wound?" he questioned facing the new commander. It was barely noticeable, but his eyes did widen slightly. Appears that Commander Thace missed evidence after all. "It's a rare metal. I believe if we find others in possession of Luxite on this ship, then we will have found our traitors."

"Then what are you waiting for?! Begin the search with the lower block!" he ordered.

Well, Haggar was right when she said Thace showed promise, any other commander would've scoffed and tossed his advice aside. "I'll assign some sentries to that."

Nodding, he turned sharply on his heel out of the room, making Macidus sigh pressing a few buttons on the console ordering it to secretly send the scanner's results to his personal datapad. His babysitting duties called, with a traitor still on board the investigating Commander's life was at stake. And ancients forbid what would happen if the commander died on his watch. He was already falling out of Haggar's favor as it was.

-.-

"HUNK! WHATEVER YOU'RE GONNA DO, DO IT NOW!" Keith ordered as he stood back-to-back with the rescued Galra soldier, using his sword to slice through the attacking enzymes as they used their blaster to shoot at the incoming ones.

/Rodger that. Provoking giant spaceworm now/

Keith bit the inside of his cheek as he pulled up his shield blocking a torrent flying at them. "HUNK!"

/YES! YES, IT'S GONNA DO IT!/ Hunk cheered before realization seemed to dawn on him. /Oh quiznak, it's gonna do it!/

The enzymes violently pulled away and Keith turned watching the gland begin to glow as a blue good began to fill it. "It's working!" he called.

_"Keith, temperature's climbing rapidly!"_ Yorak warned.

"It's about to get hot in here!" Keith stated grabbing the soldier and yanking them to the side as he pulled up his shield as the braced themselves along a cavity in the stomach lining. Bright light filled the room with the immense heat, forcing Keith to squeeze his eyes shut or risk going blind.

/HE'S OUT!/ Hunk called as the light died down. /Please tell me you've got the scautrite/

Coming out of their hiding spot, Keith pulled out the device. Pressing the button he tossed it out watching as the bags began growing from the small pill-sized container. "Grabbing it now."

It took awhile, but Keith began tying the bags together before stopping as a gun whirred to life behind his head. Sighing, he glanced back, seeing the soldier aiming their weapon at him. Appears their temporary truce outlived its usefulness.

"So you're just like the rest of 'em."

They didn't answer, instead heafting a single bag onto their shoulders. They lowered their gun and turned away, flying off towards the exit.

Oh well, according to Yorak, Keith collected more than enough for one bag going missing to be of little concern. "I'm coming out."

/On my way/

-.-

"Where's your buddy?" Hunk questioned as Keith stepped into the Yellow Lion's cockpit.

"He wasn't my buddy," Keith said, narrowing his eyes, "besides, he's long gone by now. Took a bag of scaultrite with him."

"What? Should we go after him?"

Keith shook his head. "No, we have more than enough. Whatever the Galra are planning won't matter once we defeat Zarkon."

"Copy that."

Keith smiled setting a hand on his fellow Paladin's chair. "By the way Hunk, you really came through in the clutch back there. Without you the mission would've been a complete failure."

"Aw, thanks Galra Keith, you're all right," Hunk replied with a smile. "I think turning Galra's made you a better human."

Keith's brow began twitching. "I DIDN'T JUST TURN GALRA!"


	22. Setbacks

Chapter 22

**A/N: Once again people, just own the story and OCs, nothing else is mine. Got it? Got it.**

**Alright, just FYI, the Beta Traz episode remains relatively the same, and as fun as that episode is, I don't really want to write something that would barely change. So I'll be skipping right onto Allura and Jaz! Won't that be fun?**

**/commlinks/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashbacks/dreams/telepathy_**

Jaz stood at the helm controls as Allura sat behind her playing with the mice. "Two words."

The mice squeaked back.

"Second word?" she said. "Waves?"

There was a disappointed squeak.

"At least I'm close. Ocean? Splash? Drink? Water?"

There were of series of happy chirps at the last guess.

"Water!" Allura cheered. "It's water! Alright then, first word."

Jaz glanced back as she heard small growled and she raised an eyebrow. The mice were stacked on top of each other, making little paddling motions with their front paws.

"That's a Bytor! Bytor water!" she laughed as the mice cheered. "Hunk was right, these Earth road trip games do help pass the time. Jaz, would you like to join us for the next round?"

"I'm keeping an eye on the scanners making sure we don't die, so…no," she replied before tapping a blinking button and Coran appeared on the holographic screen.

**"Hello Jaz! Princess! How are both of you? Are you almost to the Balmera?"**

"We're due to arrive in a few minutes," Jaz replied.

"I just hope we're able to find a crystal big enough for the teludav," Allura piped in.

"We could just use that giant one that consumed the robeast last time were were there," Jaz suggested.

Allura tossed a sideways glance at her. "I don't think that would work."

"And why not?"

"Because we don't want it getting free again."

"I could be dead!"

"Exactly! We don't know, so we can't use that crystal!"

"What if we can't find a crystal big enough? What then?"

**"Have you had contact with the other Paladins?"**

"We were in contact with Lance, Shiro, and Pidge a little bit ago," Allura smiled looking back at the screen. "They've located Slav."

"Though I can't guarantee that Slav will be alive when they get back," Jaz chuckled, "from the sounds of it he's driving Shiro up the walls."

**"I'm certain they'll be fine,"** Coran waved. **"What of Keith and Hunk?"**

"No word yet."

Coran began twirling his moustache, **"Don't worry. I'm sure my scientifically accurate instructional video was of great help."**

Allura and Jaz shared a skeptical look. "Maybe I should've gone with them, I've been to a weblum before," the Awoken woman muttered.

"If they collect enough scaultrite for the lenses, will your teludav structure be complete?" Allura questioned.

**"It's nearly done. The Olkari and I have been working day and night. It will be ready in time."**

Allura crossed her arms looking down. "I hope so."

**"What's going on Princess? You sound worried."**

"…I was thinking of my father. He gave his life to try to keep Voltron from Zarkon's hands and now we have a chance to defeat him. I…I don't wan to fail."

Gulping, Jaz quietly took a few steps back, she felt like she was intruding on something private. Problem was, she didn't really have anywhere to go. She had to keep an eye on the equipment.

**"You know Princess, your father would be proud of you. It wasn't that long ago we found out that Altea had been destroyed."**

"I've never felt so alone."

**"Nor have I. but we could've easily given up, but we didn't. You didn't. Now look at us. We reformed Voltron. We freed the Olkari and the Balmerans and now they're working alongside us."**

"You're right Coran," Allura smiled. "We have allies, and that's what's going to defeat Zarkon."

**"Crack a squizzle on the Balmera Princess, and Jaz,"** Coran saluted.

"Thanks Coran," Jaz deadpanned.

-.-

Stepping into a lander, both women stood silently as they went down to the ground.

"The Balmera welcomes your return Princess and Jaz," the elder Balmeran lady spoke as they stepped out.

Shay stepped forwards, her hands clasped together over he chest as she tired looking behind them. "Princess, did Hunk happen to accompany you?"

"I'm sorry Shay, but we've come alone."

Jaz slid up beside the girl, "But we'd be happy to take a message."

Allura tossed Jaz an irritated glance that the other woman elected to ignore, before speaking up again, "The others are on missions of their own collecting important elements we need to defeat Zarkon.

"Defeat Zarkon?" they gasped. "How can we help? The Balmera and its people can never thank you enough for all that you've done."

"If the Balmera will give it, we need a crystal."

"Battleship class?"

Jaz shook her head. "Bigger, a lot bigger."

-.-

Haggar glided silently into her primary lab, drifting over to the monitor. After Macidus' foolishness, she deemed it time to secretly check up on the projects of her underlings to ensure that no projects that weren't in the Empire's best interests were being conducted.

Hearing the door open, she didn't both to look back as Macidus and another of her druids walked in. "Haggar."

"What is it?"

"We found futher evidence of a spy within our ranks. This encrypted chip was in the outbound quantum entaglement chain."

"Put the chip back and wait see who retrieves it," she ordered.

Sensing them leave, she continued her work, frowning as she saw a scan being done on a genetic sample, on Macidus' orders. Changing the result recipient to herself, she turned and strode away. If Macidus wanted results, he could come and explain his insubordination to her. He just better pray that his results are useful.

-.-

"Holy draaf," Jaz cursed as she gazed up at the massive crystal with the others.

"It's incredible."

"When the Galra were here, these caverns were closed off," Shay informed, "as if the Balmera were protecting itself."

"It probably was," Jaz sighed placing her hands on her hips, "I would've hated to see the results if the Galra Empire got their hands on this."

"But now that the Balmera is free and healed, these caverns are open once more."

Allura tapped Jaz's shoulder and they walked up standing on opposite sides of the giant crystal, placing their hands on it. The Balmerans around them did the same, and they all began the ceremony, exchanging quintessence for the massive gem.

Jaz grit her teeth as she felt the stone move under her hands, at this rate she would need a few days to recover the power she'd lose doing this. The ground rumbled, and Jaz relaxed, sensing something, the Balmera perhaps reassuring her, or was it someone else? Someone else who was worried perhaps.

She didn't have long to question the feeling because as soon as it came, the ceremony was over, and the feeling gone with it. "Thanks big guy, Hunk says hi," Jaz muttered patting part of the wall smiling slightly as it rumbled back.

If anyone saw, she would forever vehemently deny that it ever happened.

-.-

"The crystal has been loaded onto your Castle Princess," Shay informed hugging Jaz and Allura.

"We wish you could stay longer," the elder smiled hugging them as well. Turning to her son, she grabbed a bowl. "I made you stickercup stew for the sky road."

Jaz held back a gag as she watched odd blue slimy creatures lean over the edge of the bowl. Tossing Allura a look, she silently begged her to politely deny and say they had more than enough, or the fridge was full, or lie about the extra weight. Something to keep them from taking that bowl!

"Oh, thank you," Allura grimaced, taking the bowl with a shakiy smile. "I'm sure we'll enjoy this immensely."

Jaz kept herself from shaking her head, nope. No, no, no, that was all Allura. She was not going to eat that unless she was dying of starvation.

"To all you Balmerans, thank you once again!" Allura called.

The ground rumbled and Jaz nearly stumbled. Was the Balmera purring? Could they even do that?

"What was that?" Allura questioned.

"Maybe it's purring?" she offered her only idea. The rumbling continued and they watched as the crystal encasing the robeast began to crack. Jaz slumped, "Nevermind, it's throwing up its last meal."

"EVERYONE! TAKE COVER IN THE BALMERA!" Allura ordered, dropping the bowl in order to amplify her voice. Jaz would have to high-five her later for the creative way of disposing the bowl. "WE'LL HOLD IT OFF WITH THE CASTLE'S DEFENSES!"

"Wait, what now?" Jaz protested chasing after as Allura ran into the pod. Getting inside, Allura bounced in place as Jaz paced the small area. "How are we going to beat this thing? I mean the only way we defeated it last time was because the Balmera quiznaking ATE it!"

"I'm sure we could find a way!" Allura exclaimed as they raced out and onto the bridge. "Activate the particle barrier!"

"On it," she replied activating it before typing quickly. "Weapons systems online, ready when you are."

"Fire!"

Jaz nodded setting the target before firing, gritting her teeth as she saw the headless beast continue to lumber towards them as two glowing violet crystals floated by its side, blocking the shots. "Our guns aren't strong enough! It's using the crystals as sheilds to deflect our attacks!"

The crystals moved to the side and its chest began to glow green.

"Brace for impact!" Allura ordered as the fiery beam hit the barrier. "We need to lure it away from the Balmera."

"Then we better do it quickly, this attack is weakening the particle barrier. We're currently as sixty-five percent power!"

"Launching in three, two, one," Allura counted before the engines started up, shooting them away from the surface as Jaz watched. "It is following?"

"Unfortunately," she grumbled.

-.-

Keith felt eyes scrutinizing him, making a glance to Hunk his shoulders visibly slumped as he caught the Yellow Paladin continuing to stare. "Are you trying to see if my skin is purple?" he scoffed.

"…No…"

/HUNK! KEITH! ARE YOU THERE?!/ Jaz shouted making both boys jump and look at the comms system.

"We're here Jaz, what's going on?"

/The Balmera threw up the robeast it ate! We need you back at the Castle!/

"We're on our way!"

-.-

"We should contact Allura and let her know we have Slav," Pidge said as they gathered in the Blue Lion's cockpit, "and that we're ready for her to use the teludav."

Slav popped up between Lance and Pidge, looking angry. "You didn't say we'd be travelling by teludav?!"

Shiro slowly began to turn red as the scientist continued to happily tapdance on his last existing nerve. "WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?! WE'RE TRAVELLING BY TELUDAV! SO JUST COUNT YOUR HAIR FOLLICLES, OR FLUFF A PILLOW, OR WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO TO MAKE SURE WE SURVIVE THE WORMHOLE TRIP IN THIS REALITY!"

They all looked at him mildly terrified.

Slav nervously started tapping his fingers together, "I was just going to point out that the teludav is a very efficient form of travel."

/GUYS! ARE YOU THERE?!/ Jaz shrieked.

"Whoa," Lance winced rubbing his ears, "cool your jets, Jaz."

/MAKE ME!/

"Jaz, calm down, what's going on?" Shiro questioned.

/The Balmera Robeast is back/

"WHAT?!"

/Don't ask me how! The crystal broke, Balmera threw it up, whatever! Just get back here!/

"You've got it Jazzy, your Sharpshooter's on the way," Lance smiled.

"Sharpshooter?"

"It's my new nickname that I gave myself, pass it on."

/Lance, the day you're a sharpshooter is the day you beat me, Darvah, or Keith on the firing range. And that will never, ever happen/ Jaz deadpanned.

"We're ready when you are!" Shiro called.

Jaz grunted as another blast slammed into the barrier. /Particle barrier at ten percent!/

/Opening teludav now/ Allura informed.

-.-

"What the…?" Keith trailed off staring at Godzilla-turned-Headless Horseman.

/How is that thing operational?! It doesn't have a head!/ Lance exclaimed.

/It probably has something to do with those crystals/

/We can't worry about that now/ Shiro interrupted, /We have to protect the Castle/

"How did we beat it last time?" Keith questioned.

/WE?! THE BALMERA QUIZNAKING ATE IT LAST TIME!/ Jaz snapped.

"True, I think Voltron's cannons just made it mad," Hunk grimaced.

/Whatever happened last time, we're going to need Voltron/ Shiro stated.

/But we only have two lions!/

/Maybe we could form the legs as kick it?/ Lance suggested and Keith barely kept himself from facepalming.

/LOOKOUT!/ Jaz shouted as the robeast fired another blast, forcing the two lions to weave out of the way of the green laser as it cut through two of the Balmera's moons, effectively obliterating them.

"Qurgh," Keith cussed glaring at the robeast. This was going to be a challenge.

/That new laser is definitely more powerful/ Shiro said sounding like he was gritting his teeth. /We're definitely going to need all the lions. Hunk, you distract it so we can fly back to the Castle, once we get our lions we'll cover you so you can fly Keith in for Red/

"Wait, wait, wait! I have to hold that thing off by myself?!" Hunk protested.

/You have Keith/

"Yeah, but he's in here with me!"

/There's no time to argue! We've got to do this now/

"Oh, Quiznak," Hunk whined.

"Stop complaining and get moving," Keith ordered snapping Hunk out of his distressed stuptor.

"R-right!" he nodded sending Yellow flying forwards. Opening the jaws, laser blasts shot out, trying to hit the headless beast as the crystal sheilds continued to deflect. "Those crystals ar blocking all of our attacks!"

"Duck!"

The Yellow Lion dove down, pulling up in time for them to watch as the particle barrier of the Castle go down as Jaz started cursing explicitly over the comms in various languages. "The Castle's doomed unless we distract that beast!" Hunk exclaimed.

Turning Yellow, he drove straight down towards the robeast, not even bothering to slow down as it placed the crystalline sheilds in front of it. Bracing himself, Keith grunted as they made impact, nearly being thrown around the cockpit as Yellow spun.

He'd have to high-five Hunk for the move later. Looking up, Keith smirked as he saw the creature flying at them. "Good, it's chasing us."

"You and I have very different definitions of what is good!" Hunk exclaimed as he flew Yellow away from the chasing beast.

-.-

"About time!" Jaz exclaimed as she angrily was pressing buttons on the control console. "Particle barrier is at two-percent!"

"Lance! Get back out to give Hunk cover, Pidge and I are right behind you," Shiro ordered.

"On it!"

"Don't worry about me! I'll just hand out here!" Slav waved.

Shiro turned to look at him, "Can you help the Princess and Jaz restore the particle barrier?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed before standing there uselessly.

"Now?"

"Oh! You mean in this reality! Got it."

"What does he mean by in this reality?!" Jaz questioned as Shiro quickly sprinted to his bay. He didn't want to be around for when Jazmyne Venj inevitably exploded.

-.-

"Bank left!" Keith ordered as another beam fired at them. "Barrel roll! Nosedive!"

"Quit back-lion driving!"

"In case you forgot who's the most experienced pilot between the two of us?!" Keith snapped.

/Hunk! I've got you covered!/ Lance interrupted.

"Yes! Thank you Lance," Hunk sagged in relief as he turned Yellow around. Flying back towards the Castle, they weren't given any warning when the beam hit.

/GUYS!/

Hunk screamed as Keith muffled his own cries, it felt similar to the blast that the druid back at the glalactic hub gave him when they'd been fighting. But thankfully, not as bad, but that could be because Keith already got hit once while Hunk hadn't. The pain stopped and Keith was the first to recover, paling as he saw tinges of fire from atmospheric entrance begin to form around the falling Yellow Lion.

Glancing at a semi-conscious Hunk, Keith winced. Making a note to apologize later, he shot a small zap of quintessence into his friend, making him wake with a sharp cry. Keith felt horrible, but he didn't have time to focus on that. "Hunk, do something!"

Realizing what was happening, Hunk began frantically working at the controls. "I can't! Nothing's working! Come on boy! Come back to me!" he pleaded.

/Hold on!/ Shiro called and Keith gripped the seat tighter as they were jostled as the Black Lion pulled them out of their descent in time to watch Green and Blue fly past, chasing after the robeast as it continued to fire at them and black their shots with its stupid sheilds.

/I'm getting real tired of that crystal! Let's take it out!/

/On it/ Pidge said.

Keith furrowed his brows, looking back at the Castle. Hopefully it wouldn't take him too long to reach Red. They could really use Voltron right about now.

/Shiro! It's on its way to the Castle!/ Pidge called and they turned around the see the robeast flying at them.

/I got it!/ the Black Paladin responded, flying towards the enemy to intercept.

"Who's got me?!" Hunk whined as they started floating aimlessly.

Gritting his teeth, Keith whirled on his heel and raced for the nearest exit. They couldn't afford to wait any longer, not with the Yellow Lion out of commission for the timebeing. "Keith?! Where are you going?"

"I'll jump out and jetpack over to the Castle," he replied not even waiting for a response. Climbing out of the exit in Yellow's head, he pushed off and launched towards the Castle.

_"You better hurry, I'm not sure how long the others can hold that thing off,"_ Yorak reminded.

"How long are you estimating?"

_"To get to the Castle? Approximately two minutes."_

Keith growled, he could make it less than that. Flying fast, Keith had barely just enough time to sense a dark energy surge shooting his way. Without thinking, he summoned a light shield as the green blast hit, screaming as it surrounded him. Every part of his body felt like it was on fire and being eroded away under the undead beast's blast, it was very possible that it was. The shield shattered, and everything exploded into white hot agony.

-.-

Keith grunted as his body slammed painfully in the cockpit of a very angry and very distressed Red Lion. She was almost overwhelming their mental bond with her fear for him, her concern for how hurt he was, and her relief that he was back.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Yorak greeted hovering above Keith's face as the freshly revived Guardian panted.

"How long…?"

"About a minute to regenerate your body, that blast completely destroyed it."

Blast? What was…Keith's eyes widened as he scrambled into the pilot's chair, looking for the others. To his horror, Hunk was caught in the arms of the robeast with the crystal charging right at him and his lion. There was no way they'd survive, not after taking one blast from a distance. Look what it did to Yellow the first time; it destroyed his light shield in a few mere moments.

Sensing his distress, Red roared and they shot down towards their distressed teammates, firing a blast into the chest of the robeast as they did so, sending it flying away from Yellow. "Sorry I'm late guys."

/Alright, now lets form Voltron and take it down like we did last time!/ Lance said.

"I doubt it's gonna sit around and wait for us to form Voltron."

/Keith's right/ Shiro agreed, /we'll need to think of something else/

/At least we outnumber those crystal sheilds/ Hunk pointed out.

/Yeah, he can only block two of us!/ Lance said as the beast fired, forcing them all to pull up out of the way or end up like the Yellow Lion a few minutes ago.

/I think I've got an idea!/ Pidge spoke up. /See if you can get me an open shot at its chest!/

/Got it!/ they all said turning. Black, Red, and Yellow fired the first volley at the chest, making the two sheilds collide together to deflect the shots. Ducking down, the three revealed the Blue Lion waiting behind them. Lance fired an ice blast freezing the two sheilds as Pidge flew above, aiming her cannon down at the gem sticking out from the center of the robeast's chest. Vines popped out enveloping the creature.

/Nice job Pidge!/ Shiro praised. /Now everyone, form Voltron!/

The transformation sequence was as time-staking as ever, giving them just barely enough time to form the sword as the robeast fried the last of the plants off of itself to turn and face them. Fortunately, it was just a little too slow as Voltron stabbed the sword between the two crystal sheilds and into the beast's chest, shattering the heart.

Unfortunately, it exploded and blasted them back, but they were fine, bruised, but fine.

/Great work Paladins!/ Allura congratulated.

/Yay another day, another battle won. NOW SOMEONE GET IN HERE AND GET SLAV AWAY FROM ME!/

-.-

"Why is there a grand entrance on the fortieth floor? And what's with all the ziplines? You have hover-technology?"

"Ziplines happened to be quite fashionable ten-thousand years ago," Allura scoffed.

"What do you have against ziplines?! They're fun!" Jaz exclaimed tossing her hands in the air.

"There's always a—"

"I don't want to hear another statistic from here or any other universe!"

The Paladins all glanced at each other all silently wondering which woman would lose it first. But, before that could happen, Keith stepped forwards, "Allura, Jaz, have you heard from Coran?"

Jaz's anger at Slav was forgotten as she tackled the Red Paladin. "HI HEFHAH! FOS LOST LOROT?! DREH HI LOST NAAN ZAAK VIR HINZAL TOL LOST?! HI VUST'ST DIR! HI LOS GLUUSKEI HI LOS'NI DILON DAHIK ZU'U FUND'ST KRII HI DIMAAR FAH TOL! [You idiot! Do you have any idea how stupid that was?! You could've died! You're lucky you aren't dead because I would've killed you myself for that!]" Jaz shrieked shaking Keith by the collar of his armor. She angrily pointed a finger in his face. "Dre'ni dreh nii ontzos! [Don't do it again!]"

Lance raised a nervous hand, "I know my Awoken isn't the best, but…what did he do?"

"Something Jaz doesn't approve of," Pidge remarked with a raised eyebrow. Honestly, it was surprising that Keith of all people was the person who did something crazy enough to make Jaz explode, Pidge always figured she'd get mad at Lance before Keith since the Awoken woman tended to give the Red Paladin more leeway when it came to dangerous stunts. Which was rather odd now that she thought about it.

"Wait, are you yelling at him for throwing himself out of the Yellow Lion to fly back to the Castle on his own?" Hunk asked.

"WHAT?!" Shiro exclaimed and Keith bit the inside of his cheek holding back his curses for Jaz.

"Daar hinzaalreym prii ofaal okmaar krii! [This hinzaalreym almost got himself killed!]" she said pointing at him with her thumb.

"Nii lost zok'nel ven! [It was the fastest way!]" Keith protested.

Shiro crossed his arms, "Zok'nel uv ni, nii lost tul hinzaal! [Fastest or not, it was still stupid!]"

"Paladins!" Allura snapped and they all looked at her. "Focus."

"So did you get in contact with Coran?" Keith repeated.

"Yes."

"So, we ready to pop through the wormhole and get back to Olkarion?" Lance questioned.

Allura perked up, "Yes, we managed to check in with Coran and the teludav is nearly complete. Hunk, thank you for getting the scaultrite."

Keith closed his eyes, of course she was still mad.

"No problem…you know, Keith was there too," Hunk voiced and he tossed his friend a grateful glance before looking back to Allura as she glared at him. She seemed to be trying to glare daggers through him, but Keith refused to back down, meeting her gaze calmly before she looked away without acknowledging him once again.

Keith sighed, it wasn't like he literally just died for this team or anything. No big whoop, to Allura, he was still expendable.

Oh well, it wasn't hard for him to understand, who would want to trust a Galra?

-.-

"We've made great progress while you were gone, and now that we have the scaultrite, we should be finished in less than a quintant," Coran informed as they stood in the observation room.

"Wow," Lance gasped, "that's one big teludav."

"Nice work."

"Good job Coran," Hunk said holding his fist up, "fist bump." Coran, raised an eyebrow before tapping his fist against Hunk's and the Yellow Paladin made a small exploding noise, pouting when Coran didn't do the same thing. "Now blow it up."

"Don't you dare! It took forever to build this teludav! And let's not forget it's a pivotal piece in our plan to defeat Zarkon!"

"He didn't mean blow up the teludav Coran," Jaz deadpanned.

A monitor popped up and Coran panicked as Slav was seen banging on the side. /I've made some improvements to your design. This will increase our chances of survival in this reality two-hundred-five percent/

"Is this guy a little…?"

"Yes."

"No doubt."

"Not a fan."

"Can I please blow him up?"

"STOP HITTING THE TELUDAV OR I'LL LET JAZ BLOW YOU UP!"

"CORAN!"

There was an exlplosion and both Jaz and Shiro threw their hands in the air, "YES!"

-.-

Keith stood with the others on the central platform gazing out into the sunset. This was it, this crazy adventure was finally going to end. They were about to embark on a plan that would either save the universe or doom it as Zarkon continued his tyrannical reign.

It was, honestly, hard to grasp.

He grew up hearing stories of Voltron, playing games as Paladins with his friends; and then all of a sudden, he was a Paladin. But…now it was all going to end. How long had they even been gone from Earth anyways? Weeks? Months? Maybe a year? Time was always weird for Guardians. It couldn't've been too long though; his friends still looked the same age.

What would they all do after this anyways? Pidge was easy, she'd go look for her family. Jaz, she'd probably help Pidge. Shiro would either go with them or go back to Earth and try to rebuild his relationship with Adam. Lance and Hunk, they always complained about how homesick they were, so it was an easy guess.

What would he do though? Keith could go to the Blade, continue to try and find his mother, help handle any aftermath of Zarkon's death, maybe eradicate a few rouge Hive nests here and there. Or he could go home. He could feel his light churning and sparking in anticipation at the thought, it would be good to go back, see his family, his pets, his home, to see everything again. Would he take the Alteans with him? lead them back to a population of their own kind? There were a few hospitable, unoccupied planets and moons they could live on and establish a new civilization. The biggest questions were: would Allura trust him and how would he get them to believe him? Wasn't like he could just walk up and explain everything.

Keith sighed, perhaps it was for the best he just left once it was all over. He was immortal, he couldn't afford the emotional attachment that came with friendship to non-Guardians. They would inevitably die and he would live on till he finally met the bullet with his and Yorak's names carved on it.

"What's everybody thinking about?" Katie said breaking the silence.

"Zarkon/Calzones," Shiro and Hunk said simultaneously.

Keith raised an eyebrow, why is it that Hunk was always thinking about food?

"I mean—uh, hec, yeah; I'm thinking about calzones, ok?" he sighed. "I mean, does it always have to be about Zarkon? He's a bad guy, we're trying to defeat him, I get it. But I'm hungry."

At least he was honest, Keith sighed looking out towards the horizon again. "We've come a long way."

Lance snorted, "Yeah, remember when Hunk used to throw up from riding in the elevator?"

"Glad I missed that," Jaz chuckled as Hunk groaned.

"You guys remember that Arusian? Klaizap, I think his name was? Cool name."

Lance laughed. "Yeah, Keith tried to beat him uo even though he was the size of a peanut."

"He was their greatest warrior!" he defended crossing his arms.

Pidge chuckled, "How about the time the food goo machine attacked us in the kitchen?"

"It took me forever to get that stuff out of my hair," Jaz snorted.

"That was the scariest thing that's happened to me the entire time I've been here," Hunk said.

Jaz shared a disbelieving look with Lance, "Seriously?"

"What? It's the truth!"

"We've faced sentries, a haunted castle, giant robeasts, a mall security guard—"

"Don't forget that cool cube thing!" Katie interrupted.

"And that awful cube thing!" Lance finished.

"You realize once we defeat Zarkon, the universe won't need Voltron anymore," Shiro spoke up and they all went quiet.

"We can go home," Lance breathed.

"I can find my family," Pidge said.

Keith shrugged, choosing to lie, "Guess I can go look for mine."

"This is really it," Jaz muttered.

"As long as everything goes according to plan, we can't fail."

Keith felt something heavy settle in his gut. _"Pār skori gaomas mirros jikagon fodos naejot kȳvanon. [Since when does anything go according to plan],"_ Yorak murmured.


	23. Light Wielder

Chapter 23

**A/N: I just own this story, nothing else I mine.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**_Flashbacks/telepathy/dreams_**

"Alright everyone listen up," Shiro said as they all stood on the bridge with a hologram of the teludav above. "I'll use the Black Lion to lead Zarkon and his fleet to our current location and make sure he's within the teludav's area of affect," he waved as a small hologram of Black flew out with Zarkon's ship chasing it under the teludav, "Keeping the teludav hidden behind the space-fold until the last possible second is essential. We can count on you right Slav?"

"Absolutely, I'll be fine…I'm not sure about the gravity generator though."

"What? What was that last thing?" Hunk questioned.

Slav tapped his chin in thought, "Hiding a ship is one thing, but I've never had to build a gravity generator for something this large before. I know it'll work, but I'm just not sure how long."

"It's a risk we'll have to take," Jaz stated, "I'll be using my magic to provide support and shield the teludav should the generator fail. Once we have Zarkon in position, Kolivan and Antok will coordinate with Thace and upload a virus designed to take down the power and security systems into the command ship."

Pidge crossed her arms, looking smug, "And then he'll be a sitting du'flax." They all raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What? A du'flax is an Altean creature with a beak and webbed feet?"

"We'll wormhole Zarkon five-hundred million lightyears away!" Coran exclaimed, jumping in front of Shiro and grabbing the teludav projection, miving it down over the other two and tossing it randomly around the room. "He'll be in the Yggiz Galaxy before he knows what hit him!"

They all winced at the sound of something crashing, but Shiro took a breath to calm himself down before looking to Kolivan. "What about Thace?"

"He should be getting into position now. We received his last communication three quintants ago, we should hear from him soon."

Shiro nodded as Jaz smirked, "Let's do this."

-.-

/Zarkon took the bait/ Shiro called. /He's got my location. Is everybody in position?/

"We've not yet heard from Thace," Kolivan informed. "He was supposed to contact us two vargas ago."

"He must've been compromised," Antok growled.

"Or killed," Kolivan finished. "We need to abort the mission immediately."

"Abort?!" Alliura gasped. "No! We cannot back away now!"

"The Blade of Marmora does not take chances. It's how we've survived for so long."

"It's held you back. Your caution is the reason Zarkon's still in power!"

Kolivan turned to face Allura, "We would rather wait than jeoprodize everything. Besides, it's too late to get someone else on the inside.

"I'll go," Keith and Jaz said simultaneously before looking at each other.

"What?"

"Keith, you're needed to pilot the Red Lion."

"And you're needed to defend the Castle and the teludav, I have the better odds of getting in and out. I'm Galra, I can bypass the doors and interact with their technology," he stated. "Pidge, can you rig up one of those pods with a cloaking device?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Going onto Zarkon's ship is a suicide mission," Kolivan snapped. "I would never command someone so inexperienced to go on a mission so dangerous."

Keith narrowed his eyes, "No one's commanding me. In case you haven't noticed, this isn't exactly the time to play it safe. Zarkon already has a fix on Shiro's location, it's only a matter of time before he gets there. The plan is already in motion, whether you like it or not. I'm doing it."

Shiro was the first to speak in the wake of Keith's statement, /Pidge, get the pod ready. Keith…/ he trailed off looking pained for a moment, /let me know when you're on your way. I'll give you cover/

Nodding in reply, he and Pidge went down to the hangar, quickly attaching a device into the pod he would be using for the mission. "Ok, the cloaking device is ready to go," Pidge sighed as the closed the hatch.

"Pidge," a voice called and both Paladins turned to see Allura standing in the doorway, "may I have a moment with Keith please?"

The Green Paladin glanced nervously between them. It was no secret that Allura had been hostile towards Keith ever since his Galra genetics came to light, and frankly she found it kind of rude that Allura refused to acknowledge Keith's existence. So, that meant leaving them alone together might not be the best option. Glancing at Keith, she frowned as he gave a slight nod to her. "Sure, have all the moments you like," she reluctantly surrendered.

Keith watched silently as Pidge left, the hangar doors closing behind her, leaving him and Allura alone in the hangar. Turning his back to her, he opened the pod, beginning to double-check the systems. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I…I just wanted to say…the Galra they've done terrible things. Destroyed entire civilizations."

"Add them to the list of hundreds of other races to do the same thing," Keith remarked absentmindedly.

"They took my family," she said quietly and he stopped, turning to face her, "but in time, I've grown to consider you and the paladins my family. So when I learned you were Galra, I…I didn't know what to think. I wanted to hate you!"

He looked down, feeling guilty. "Allura, it's—"

"But its not you," she continued, "it's me. My anger has blinded me for too long."

Keith made a small hum in understanding, "I get it, I do…You know, when I was a kid, I watched my entire city get destroyed," he whispered quietly barely noticing her shocked gasp at the rare confession from the most private paladin. "I wanted to hate the people that did it, and I did for a long time. But eventually I learned that, that type of hatred tends to eat away at you, turning you into something you'd never thought you'd be," he gave a small chuckle, "At least, what I'm trying to say is that I understand, and I don't blame you. It's hard to trust someone who's part of a race who took everything from you. You don't need to explain yourself to me."

Looking down at the ground, he turned to climb in the pod, before grunting as arms wrapped around his waist tightly. "I'm so sorry I misjudged you," she apologized. "You've proven it's not what's in your blood, it's who you are that counts. Please come back to us."

Manuvering himself, he managed to return her hug, "I will."

-.-

/I've got Zarkon on the hook, bringing him in. Keith, are you ready?/ Shiro asked. /We've only got one shot at this/

"Engaging cloaking device," he replied pressing the button. Muting the com-channels he looked at Yorak. "Yorak, change to Guardian armor, we don't know what we're up against here and I'd rather have the advantage."

"Finally!" the ghost exclaimed as the familiar weight of dark red and grey armor settled over him, taking the place of the lighter Paladin armor. Looking through his weapons, he pulled out his Crown-Splitter, a pulse rifle, and a semi-automatic, setting them next to him in the pod.

Tapping the coms again, he restarted comminucations, "Cloak engaged, moving towards fleet now."

/Roger that, I don't seen you but I'm locked on your signal/ Shiro called. /I'll clear a path/

Black flew ahead, carving a way through the fighters for them and Yorak looked at Keith. "Are you sure about this? I mean, you've been pretty insistent about staying in hiding, why show off now?"

"Yorak, I have a helmet, no one will be able to see my face and I can use the setting that distorts my voice. We won't be discovered. For all they'll know, Voltron just has some pretty powerful allies."

"And we do get discovered, you can just kill them!"

Keith shrugged. "That too." Moving the pod out of the way of an explosion, he zeroed in on the hangar as Black moved aside. "Thanks Shiro! I'm coming in hot!"

The pod slammed into the side of the narrow tunnel. It hit the ground, skidding along and running over a few sentries as it came to a stop. Leaping out, Keith punched the first sentry, effectively crushing its helm, before using his pulse rifle to blast the head off the second and sprinting towards the center of the ship.

"I'm in!"

Racing down the hangar, he ducked behind a ship, watching quietly as a sentry patrol passed him. With their backs now to him, Keith jogged over to the door, placing his hand on the pad. It lit up and let him inside the ship.

-.-

"The plan is working," Allura stated. "Keith's on board and Zarkon's fleet is on its way."

"The Castle of Lion's defenses are ready to go," Lance confirmed.

"Weapons systems are fully charged and ready," Jaz added.

/Starting the gravity generator now/ Slav called. /Commencing cloak/

-.-

Macidus narrowed his eyes behind his mask as he observed the disgraced Commander Thace. Nodding to his comrade, they turned the electricity up, smirking as the man began writhing and screaming almost instantaneously. Stopping the electrical current, he slumped in his restrains with a pathetic whimper.

Soon, very soon, he would break and tell them what they wanted to know.

"We're tracking the Black Lion. We know this is part of a bigger plan," he said levitating the traitor's knife up. Waving his hand, he frowned as the prisoner didn't even flinch as the blade stabbed into the metal beside his immobile hand. Apparating in front of him, Macidus couldn't hide the growl entering his voice. "Where is he going?"

Thace didn't respond. Looking to his partner, they nodded, confirming his thoughts. Time for Plan B. Turning away and leaving the knife they strode out of the room into a nearby chamber where another druid stood turning on the cameras as they waited for Thace to make his escape.

Then he felt it, a churning, unstable pulse of powerful energy. Looking to the other druids, he smirked as he saw that they had sensed it as well.

There was no way Macidus' luck could be _this_ good. The Guardian had come to them.

-.-

"I'm two minutes out," Shiro informed and he drove Black down away from the fighters currently chasing him. "Is everybody ready?"

/No/ Kolivan replied. /Keith hasn't made it to the hub yet/

He chewed the inside of his cheek at that. Keith was alright, he probably just got held up decapitating a few sentries. He fought a nest of evil space monsters, he could handle a few sentries.

/We need more time/

Shiro fired a blast at a cruiser. "How much more?"

/I hope not too much, because my gravity generator won't run forever!/ Slav warned.

This wasn't looking good. "I don't know how much longer I can hold Zarkon's fleet in the position by myself!"

Black shot between two of the cruisers, hoping to lose some of the fighters tailing him.

/You won't have to!/ Pidge said as he watched Yellow fly over Black and eat one of the fighters. Several blasts shot by, hitting the others as he sighed, relieved to see the other lions joining him.

"Good timing. Ok, we've got Zarkon's ship right where it needs to be. We've got to keep it here until the virus is uploaded."

/Let's do it!/ Hunk exclaimed sounding excited.

/All right!/

/We got this!/

Flying in, they began fighting off the cruisers.

-.-

/Ok you've made it to the lower communication deck. Head left down that corridor/ Kolivan instructed.

Even though he couldn't see, Keith gave a brief nod. He broke from his current hiding spot, down the dimly lit corridor checking his scanner for enemies every now and then.

/Based on the schematics from Thace, there should be a large door up ahead. This is the central hub for the Galra fleet/

"I see it," he confirmed zeroing in on the door at the end of the hall. Opening the door, he moved to the end of the platform, looking over the schematics. "Kolivan, I'm in. Now what?"

/Now you need to reset the systems using the codes Thace obtained. It'll be down for a dobash, that's when we'll upload the virus/

Swinging his hand, Yorak materialized and started looking over the console. "Got it," he said before blinking as the screen gave a sound of denial. "Give me a minute, they've updated the codes."

Keith nodded, adjusting his grip on his rifle as he pinpointed the cameras and shot them. The air in this place felt dark, worse the the lab where he'd fought that druid. This had to be where the most poweful ones were, the ones who might classify as low-level Hive Wizards. Two dark pulses in particular sent chills up his spine. They were old, something that had definitely been in direct contact with the Darkness. Hopefully they weren't nearby, because that was a fight he wouldn't want to take without getting the facts.

The door beeped and Keith grabbed Yorak quickly as they ducked behind a railing, watching to see who came it.

/Keith? Are you there?/ Kolivan questioned.

Keith didn't answer, silently observing the Galra that stumbled in. He was wounded, bearing the obvious marks of the same magic that had affected Shiro after their first attack on Central Command. This must be the missing Blade Kolivan mentioned.

The door opened again, and Keith swiftly peered around the other side as he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in alarm. "And now we know you were attempting to shut down the system," one of the Galra Wizards spoke mockingly as they glided down the platform towards them.

"You're too late," the wounded soldier growled typing on the monitor.

"No Thace. You're too late. We already changed the code."

"Yorak," Keith hissed quietly, "Skorkydoso bōsa ēva ao sagon isse [How long till you're in]?

"Sindigon nyke iā dorolvie tolī dobashes [Buy me a few more minutes]."

Nodding, Keith watched as the two druids jumped, aiming blasts at Thace. Popping up from his hiding spot, Keith changed his knife to its sword form, hurling it through the chest of the first druid. It shrieked loudly as energy arched off it, eventually dying in a burning ball of light.

The second druid landed, cocking his head. "So…it seems Macidus was correct, there is a Guardian aligned with Voltron."

Thace chuckled hoarsely, "Last I checked, it was illegal to attack Guardians, wasn't it?"

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise, he certainly didn't know that.

"No matter, Emperor Zarkon will forgive me in exchange with your delivery to him," the wizard replied shooting a lightning blast at Keith. Flipping out of the way, Keith rolled back to his feet sprinting at his opponent, grabbing his sword along the way. Jumping up he swung down as hard as he could at him.

Then the druid fired a blast at him, knocking him off the platform. Turning on his jetpack, Keith rightened himself and slammed back down onto the platform as Thace fought. His Marmora Blade shifted back to knife form as he strapped it to his waist, as he haistily scrolled through his inventory.

Finding what he wanted, he pressed it, smirking as a familiar black and red sword settled in his grasp.

Charging forwards, he attempted to slice through the druid's back as the quiznaking thing teleport above, firing a blast at the pair. Summoning a light shield to deflect it, Keith pulled out his rifle coming out and firing, making the druid teleport repeatedly to avoid getting shot. Emptying his current clip, eith crouched back behind the barrier reloading. "How ya holdin' up?"

Thance grunted, "I'll manage."

"Move!" Keith ordered grabbed the Blade and yanking him out of the way as their opponent teleported above them. Firing a blast that nearly hit Thace and effectively destroyed Keith's shield.

Nodding they rushed forwards, each swinging their swords expertly, forcing the druid to teleport quickly or get cut in half. Barely avoiding a swing from Thace, the druid fired a blast at his chest sending him sliding back across the platform with an agonized cry of pain.

Feeling a surge of energy, the druid turned and saw a quintessence covered fist swing at them before they abruptly burst into ash.

"KEITH! I'M IN!" Yorak shouted.

The Guardian sighed, his shoulders visibly slumping. So much for secret identity. Letting his helmet vanish, he walked over and helped a rather stunned Thace up. "I'm Keith, Red Paladin of Voltron."

"As well as Guardian and fellow Blade I see," he grunted holding his side. "I guess we haven't failed."

"Not yet, our first order of business is shutting down the systems and uploading the virus. Yorak, can you do that?"

"Psh, ye of little faith."

-.-

Blue dove down along one of the spires of Zarkon's command ship with two fighters on her tail. On the inside of the cockpit, Lance grit his teeth, praying his plan would work. Pulling back, Blue jerked into a flip, soaring over the fighters. Blasting one, he smirked as he ended up behind the second before blasting that one away too.

"Whoo! Yeah! That was close!"

/SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! A LITTE HELP!/ Hunk pleaded flying past with three fighters behind him.

/Lure them to me!/ Shiro ordered as Black shot upwards, effortlessly slicing through the three ships with the jawblade.

/Guys! Zarkon's ship's leaving the area of effect!/ Jaz snarled. /Get him back in!/

/The gravity generator won't hold out much longer/ Slav warned, /if it goes down, we're going to be exposed in open space!/

/I'll prepare a shield/ Jaz replied.

/Do what you can/ Shiro called, /We'll hold them off/

"Geez, things are getting hairy," Lance muttered. "So Keith, buddy, are you almost done?"

-.-

Keith swung his sword, smirking as the Terran metal easily dismantled it. Now they just had to finish before the explosion that was the result of this metal's particular effects.

"We're working on it," he replied to Lance walked back over to where Yorak and Thace were working. "How's it going?"

"I'm ready to shut the systems down, however, with these improvements the Galra made, I doubt they'll stay offline long enough for us to upload the virus," Yorak informed. "Which is rather weird because its incredibly easy to swipe all the footage of you from their systems."

"Yorak, are you carrying the virus yourself?" Thace questioned.

"Y-Yes, I made a copy before we left."

"Good, begin the upload, when I say go, send the file," he said typing quickly, going through and clicking on several commands.

-.-

"High Priestess," Macidus said, "Thace has barricaded himself with a Guardian in the central hub. He's attempting to shut down the system."

"He's working with the Paladins, it was a trap!" she snarled.

Zarkon growled, turning to face them. "I will end this firefight, retrieve the traitor and the Light Weilder," he ordered.

With a final glare to her underling, Haggar teleported down to the hall leading to the control room, several sentries racing to her aid. As if she needed them to complete her task.

Inside, Keith reactivated his helmet, loading his grenade launcher and he prepared to manifest another shield to protect Thace and Yorak. The metal of the door turned red with heat before exploding open and two sentries walked in.

"Hey, on your left," Keith called as the metal of the lock mechanism turned white and exploded, take the sentries with it. Traveler, he loved Yolosite weapons. Without a pause, he hefted the heavy weapon onto his shoulder, aiming at the obelisk-like structure handing down above the platform.

The room shook with the explosion as the metal slammed onto the platform, effectively barricading the door.

"Go!" Thace ordered and Yorak began sending the virus into the system.

"That solves one problem, but now we're trapped."

"No. There's an exit through the main power conduit, it leads to the second deck," Thace stated as Keith's armor changed from Guardian to Paladin and Yorak vanished.

Pulling out a spare helmet and chest plate, Keith tossed it to the man. "Put it on, quickly."

"No, you'll go without me."

"What?" he snapped whirling back. "I'm not leaving you! We've downloaded the virus and shut down the system! Now we need to leave!"

"Its my job to make sure the system stays shut down, this is where my journey ends," he said sounding accepting, "But as a Guardian and a Paladin of Voltron, you have a bigger mission. You must understand that."

"No we don't!" Yorak exclaimed appearing in front of Thace's face as his startled Guardian yanked him back. "And I have a plan to ensure it. Thace put on that armor and grab those wires! We're overloading the system!"

"We don't have time—"

"Oh yes we do," Yorak interrupted, "I downloaded the highest clearance I could find, I can send a majority of the ship's energy right here. It'll overload the system about three times faster. And since the virus is already in the system as soon as the barriers are permanently down, it'll be able to wreck untold havok!"

"You get in the armor I attach the cables?" Keith offered as Thace nodded. Making quick work of their tasks, Keith nodded to his fellow blade as he attached the last cable as Yorak disappeared.

_"Starting energy transfer now."_

"Hold on!" Keith exclaimed putting as much quintessence as he could into a shield for the console.

"Keith, take this back to Kolivan," Thace said handing him a knife.

"Thace! I told you! You don't have to—" he was cut off as the doors exploded open.

"It was an honor to fight beside you. Allen would be proud," Thace said and Keith didn't get the chance to reply before he was blasted off the platform.

-.-

/The gravity generator just failed!/ Slav exclaimed. /Now there's no reality where we all get out alive!/

"Princess, the teludav's completely exposed," Coran breathed.

"Focus on your other jobs! This isn't the time to panic!" Jaz reminded standing near the front of the bridge. With a quick prayer, she summoned as much power as she could, her hands and hair glowing with the effort before throwing her arms out and creating a shield around them. "I'll hold it as long as I can, but you better teleport this thing soon!"

Black flew by, and Shiro watched, hoping Jaz would be able to hold on long enough. "Come on Keith." Driving Black up, he used her jawblade to slice through a cruiser and a few fighters, ducking under the shot of a cannon.

/What do we do?!/ Pidge exclaimed.

"We need to hold them off long enough for Keith to get out. Hopefully Jaz's power won't run out before then."

/We cannot wait any long, powering up teludav now/

-.-

Keith glanced back, gritting his teeth. Why in the universe would Thace do that? He was immortal, so what if he blew up. He could've gotten Thace out of there, the plan was going perfectly "Yorak, how long till the explosion?"

His ghost didn't have the chance to answer as the ship shook, a fiery light growing brighter as it came for them. His sparrow dissolving, Keith pulled up another shield. The blast hit him and he was ejected into space.

/The system is down and the virus is uploaded/ Kolivan informed as they watched the ion cannon of the command ship power down.

/I thought you needed to upload a copy?/ Coran questioned.

/Keith…/ Jaz grunted, /he must've…taken a copy/

/How'd he even get one?/

/Who cares!/ Lance sighed as the fighters stopped chasing him.

"Thace," Keith panted.

A deep, sympathetic rumble echoed through his mind, and Keith smiled seeing Red fly over.

-.-

Haggar glared at the broken platform where the powerful shield had been standing. Macidus was right, Voltron and their allies had a Guardian among them.

And they fell right into their trap.

-.-

Jaz's shield dissolved as Allura turned on the wormhole, slowly moving it down the massive ship, the Princess's face beginning to show the strain. Finishing, Coran started piloting the Castle to the other side into the portal. /Everyone hold on! Hurry Paladins we must make it in before the wormhole closes!/

Flying Red into the hangar, Keith turned on his comm screen with the others and the Castle as Thace stumbled out, hopefully to meet the others blades waiting. /How's Allura?/ Shiro questioned.

/Weak, but alive/ Jaz panted.

/Take care of her, we've got it from here/ Shiro said as the exited the wormhole, Zarkon's ship floating uselessly through space.

/WE DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE WE DID IT!/ Pidge cheered as Red flew out to join them.

/See, I told you we could do it/ Slav said.

/It's not over yet. Everyone, form Voltron!/


	24. Price of Victory

Chapter 24

**A/N: Whoo, last chapter was a doozy. God, that was hard to write. Anyways, I seriously debated on keeping Thace alive, and I was going to. Then, I was like: hey what if this was the reason Keith kept going in to help other blades in later seasons both story and cannon-wise. After watching Thace sacrifice himself even though it was possible for them both to escape in time?**

**I know I'm evil. What can I say?**

**Once again, I just own this crossover.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is in-ship intercom"**

**_Flashbacks/telepathy/dreams_**

/We've gotta act fast/ Shiro said as Voltron floated in front of the offline Galra Command. /The power's only going to be offline for twenty minutes. The Blade of Marmora's schematics showed four targets we need to hit: the weapons systems, engines, bridge, and the shield generators. Now let's put an end to Zarkon, once and for all/

/Yeah!/

/Form sword!/

Slamming his bayard into its slot, Keith formed the sword of Voltron. Flying towards the command ship, they dug the blade it, dragging it up and around one of the lower legs growing out from the bottom of Zarkon's Cantral Command.

/We need to hit the engine systems/

_"Target sighted,"_ Yorak informed and Keith quickly maneuvered the sword as Voltron slammed down onto the ship again. Red stabbed the blade it and fire raged around them.

-.-

"We've done it," Allura sighed, as slight smile forming on her lips as she regained consciousness.

"Yes Princess," Coran agreed.

"Don't jump to conlusions," Jaz reminded adjusting a few parts to her battle suit, "this battle isn't over yet."

-.-

/Stay focused/ Shiro said as they began to fall into a pattern of firing and slashing at the massive warship, /we've neutralized the engines, now we need to target the bridge/

Keith furrowed his brow, where exactly in this beheamoth of a ship was that?

He didn't have long to contemplate as a familiar surge made him freeze. Darkness, a lot, close by.

Looking down he paled seeing the massive blight forming below them. There was no way the druids could be this powerful. It took the Hive's Ascendant Wizards and Taken Wizards to perform this kind of magic.

A dark bolt shot out and Keith heard screams. He wasn't sure if it was his own or a mix of the others' as well. Energy arched over his body, adding to the pain as whatever attacked them proceeded to wreak havoc on Red and he was sure the other lions as well. Keith reached out through the bond, trying to determine how bad they were.

He didn't like what he found.

They all were being drained of energy, and unlike him, they didn't share the same reserves. That was all it took for Keith to release his built-up supercharge along with any extra quintessence he could spare. If he could overload the blight with unstable quintessence, then he could save the others.

It wasn't even a moment later darkness took over his vision.

-.-

Hagger strained against Voltron's quintessence, the white energy moving wildly as it was drained into the Komar. With this attack, she could weaken the Paladins and ensure her sire's victory over them. Allowing the Empire to finally gain control of Voltron and eradicate the last of the Alteans once and for all.

Strengthening her magic, she began reading the quintessence, looking for weaknesses in their enemies.

The Yellow one, afraid and weak, but extremely loyal and protective, he could be difficult to break. Difficult, but not impossible.

The Green was stubborn and smart, no doubt a potential asset to the Empire, but was too afraid of losing those closest. A weakness Haggar would gladly exploit given the chance.

The Blue, fragile and insecure. He would no doubt be the easiest to destroy. His weaknesses were obvious, all she needed to do was to crush his hopes and emphasize every fear he had in order to break him beyond repair like her beloved Champion.

Oh, Champion, his quintessnce felt familiar and easy to manipulate in her grasp. She nearly cackled as she felt his despair, the worry that they would never defeat them, the fear that he'd failed his pathetic crew and his fellow paladins. He tried to hard to be anything other than what she designed him to be. Surely, he had to see that his efforts were futile, he could never undo what she'd done to break him, mold him into what she wanted. Champion would always be _hers_ to use as she pleased, and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

But that didn't mean it wasn't entertaining to watch him try.

An energy arch lashed out and she could only grit her teeth as a familiar fire surged past. The Red Paladin, just as temperamental as his lion so it would seem. Just like Alfor. His quintessence was volatile, unstable, pulsing and weaving sparodically through the others, making him hard to read. What she found the most endearing was his stubbornness and fire. It would be fun to watch it crumble to dust and for that fire to die. How long would he last seeing her use Champion? Probably not long considering how fast Champion crumbled when she broke him showing him visions of his loved ones being tortured.

She could almost hear her favorite experiment's cries as his "mate" screamed for him to help and his little brother died before his eyes, by his hand, and numerous other ways. How perfect that her Champion brought the latter weakness right to her in the form of the Red Paladin. She couldn't help but wonder how long Champion would last this time with so many weaknesses for her to torture right in front of him.

The thought made her cackle in glee.

Only for a sudden surge of unstable quintessence to come from Voltron. Energy arched out of the Komar's path wildly, as if the quintessence itself was attacking the ship, leaving explosive marks and tracks in its wake.

"Pure quintessence," she hissed teleporting away as it grew out of her control, effectively obliterating the container.

-.-

"Keith! Shiro!" Jaz called biting her lip when she got static in reply. "Aanwo fahraal zey [Someone answer me]!"

"I thought the virus shut down all of Zarkon's power!" Coran exclaimed glaring at a horrified Kolivan as the Awoken woman attempted to get in contact with Voltron.

"That blast was not from the ship's weapons."

"Duh it was magic," Jaz remarked back to Allura. "Only magic I've seen remotely like that though is Hive."

"It must've been the Komar," Kolivan informed. "Zarkon's druids have been attempting to replicate Hivian methods of extracting quintessnce from planets, this device was the latest attempt. It appears he's succeeded."

"Ruth!" Jaz cursed slamming her fist on the dash.

Coran gulped, speaking up in concern, "If that weapon destroys planets, what did it do the the Paladins?"

-.-

Keith gasped, shooting up in his chair as his lungs began seizing, trying to figure out how to breathe again. Coughing, he blinked looking around at his surroundings. He was in Red, but…why was everything dark?

The glow of the violet light flashed through his memory and Keith grabbed at the controls, trying to move Red. She remained unresponsive. Seems the weapon took all the quintessence both lion and paladin possessed. He just hoped the surge he sent kept the others from dying as he did, surely the Galra didn't have a device capable of controlling that much weaponized quintessence.

/KENDAAR! ZEMQULEK VOK! [Paladins! Pick up!]/ Jaz shrieked sounding more panicked than he'd ever heard her before. Biting his lip, he listened anxiously for the others' responses, with their lions down, he couldn't tell if they were alive through their Voltron bonds.

/Jaz/ Shiro whispered and everyone immediately felt a wave of relief rush through them, /We're alive/

/Thank the ancients/

/Is Voltron operational?/

/Nothing's working/ Hunk mumbled.

"I can't move Red."

"What happened?" Yorak questioned floating next to him. For once, Keith couldn't find it in him to scold his ghost. The little light literally just brought him back from the dead. He was just relieved his chosen plan didn't end up killing them both.

/You were hit with a magic attack that drains the quintessence out of you/ Coran stated.

/Like Hive magic, but not as powerful/ Jaz added, probably more for Keith's sake than anyone else since he was the only one who'd know their magic.

Needless to say, that information had him worried. Who in the universe could possibly be insane enough to try emulating _Hive_? He would need to inform the Vangard if he ever made it back to Terra that there was another threat they'd need to handle.

That is if Keith didn't personally eradicate them first for attacking his team.

/You need to get out of there!/ Coran implored, /One more attack like that and you may not survive/

Keith looked to Yorak, "Chea tugo ummkediquuhopch wiwhoon quinahoj zoweko chea'ko kouxch he ajo cheak jamokytukvo uvuin [You have approximately fifteen minutes before you're ready to use your supercharge again]," the ghost answered in Wuldian.

The Guardian nodded, that was a slower rate than usual, but considering he just used more quintessence in a single day than he had for the past several years it was expected. He just had to hope whatever would happen next wouldn't occur during that timeframe or they'd be able to hold it off until then. Maybe figure out how to channel it into the sword for an extra attack boost.

/What is that?/ Lance whimpered and Keith looked out, frowning as he watched a hangar door open. Eyes widened as they all watched a Voltron-like winged giant-Zarkon emerge from the hangar.

/Remember your training, remember all the battles you've gone through/ Allura encouraged.

/Voltron's still not responding/ Shiro reminded.

"Quiznak," Keith hissed through his teeth. Traveler, please let there be a way to produce quintessence faster, Voltron really needed it if they were going to fight _that_.

-.-

"Get us in closer, divert all power to our weapons system," Allura ordered.

"What?" Coran blanched. "Princess, we'll be defenseless!"

"It's the only way."

"I'll provide cover as needed."

"No Jaz, focus all your magic on attack."

The Awoken woman cracked her knuckles with a sadistic smile, "All right."

The Castle flew towards the battle, ready to cover Voltron.

-.-

/Listen to me/ Allura said, /You are true paladins now connect with your lions, reach out to each other! Fight! This cannot end now!/

As if for emphisis a blue beam fired from the ship, blasting into Zarktron whom raised his shield, sending the evil version back into the hull of Central Command. The beam was deflected off the shield, cutting through one of the lower spire before slamming into the shield Jaz generated in front of the Castle to protect them.

Before their eyes, cracks formed in the shield, and they heard Allura's and Jaz's screams as an explosion rocked the Castle.

/JAZ!/

/ALLURA!/

Shiro spoke up, sounding furious, /Everybody, listen. We have to fight. We have to channel all our energy, visualize five becoming one. We have to focus everything we have into moving Voltron. We are the last thing standing in the way of Zarkon's total universal domination. I'm not giving up that fight! Are you Hunk!/

/No/

/Pidge?/

/Never!/

/Lance?/

/Let's go down swinging/

Keith closed his eyes, clenching his hands around Red's controls. He could feel the others, their determination, strength, resolve to win this. he could feel their energies, Pidge: strong and clever, Hunk: courageous and kind, Lance: charismatic and determined, and Shiro as strong and kind and willful as he remembered.

/Keith?/

He smirked, opening his eyes as Yorak vanished once Red powered back to life with an angry growl, "I'm all in."

/Then let's get Voltron back in this battle/ Shiro said.

Slamming his bayard into its slot, the sword reformed, just in time for them to prepare for Zarktron to fly at them with a blade of his own. **"Now. I will take back what is mine!"**

The first collision was explosive, sending Voltron spriraling back. Rightening, they managed to parry Zarkon's second attacks, flying back to try and gain the upper hand. They fired a blast at Zarkon, simultaneously griting their teeth as he wove through their fire.

/Alright. Let's hit him with the big guns!/ Shiro ordered and Keith yanked his bayard out of the slot. /Hunk, shoulder cannon!/ The yellow weapon materialized on Voltron's shoulder. /Fire!/

The almost white blast shot through space at their target. It seemed like it was going to hit, till Zarktron's quiznaking wings moved to the front, acting like a shield.

"Fhos os sef gessa ba aasu [This is not gonna be easy]."

_"Since when was it ever easy?"_

The Komar fired again and Voltron flew out of the way this time, avoiding the same result as the first attack.

Zarkon ended up blindsiding them.

-.-

"Princess? Are you alright Princess?" Coran's questioning being the first thing Jaz heard as she regained consciousness.

"I'm fine. How badly is the Castle damaged?"

Her azure hair billowed around her as she looked up, realizing they were floating in zero-g. Glancing down at her controls, she winced. "Power's pretty much toast," feeling confused looks she sighed, "We have no power and communications are dead."

"We can't reach the paladins," Coran realized. "I'm afraid we can't fight anymore."

"Hold on, just because we can't reach the guys doesn't mean we can't fight!" the Awoken mage protested.

Hearing grunting, they all turned to see Slav prying the doors open. "Did we win yet?"

"No."

"Coran, you work with Slav and do what you can to get the Castle functioning again," Allura ordered before smirking and looking at Jaz. "How would you feel about a raid?"

"I'm in!" Jaz grinned. "Kolivan! You up for attacking the Komar?!"

The Galra male frowned and narrowed his eyes. "It will be dangerous, but I know a way to reach it."

"Awesome! Antok! Allura! Let's go!" she said flying towards the door.

"Coran the bridge is yours, we're going to have to attack the witch directly," Allura stated.

"What?! You two can't go up against her! You're still weak after the last attack!" he protested.

"I am not passing up an opportunity to get payback for what she did to Shiro, me, and now the rest of the Paladins," Jaz snarled, her eyes glowing with fury. "Besides, if we want to win this battle, we don't have a choice."

-.-

Zarktron's sword pressed harder against Voltron's, shoving them back before they pulled back, moving to attack only for Zarktron to parry. The impact sending them spinning backwards.

The legs stabilized Voltron, allowing Keith to pull Red back as Pidge maneuvered Green forwards, firing a laser at their opponent. Behind him, the infuriating glowing wings protected their enemy from the attack, allowing him to still continue his charge towards them unimpeded. He slashed down, and Voltron barely managed to avoid getting sliced in half. Flying back, they wove through the debris, looking for an opening.

/We've never faced anything this powerful before/ Pidge growled.

/One way or another, this may be our last battle/ Shiro gritted.

_"Way to be positive everyone."_

"Yorak!" Keith scolded quietly.

The Black Paladin continued, unaware of the minor squabble in the Red Lion, /We've got to give everything we have. Dig deep and fight!/

Keith felt a surge of energy that wasn't from the paladin bond, his supercharge was ready. Now the question was: how to use it to hit Zarkon?

He was jostled out of his thoughts as Red parried another attack from Zarktron's sword. Shoving their attacker back, they gained distance, letting Green fire again before they collided in sword combat once again.

They heard Shiro start grunting in pain and Keith felt his brother's distress, something was wrong. /He's trying to control my lion. I can feel him in my mind/

"Fight it Shiro!" he called shoving the sword back giving them distance for their leader to regain control. Feeling Shiro's distress calm down, they charged again, managing to stab the sword into the chest of their opponent. Unfortunately, Keith knew that he missed. The feeling of Darkness the other pilot gave off didn't dissappate, if anything, it writhed in anger.

His suspiscions were confirmed as the sword changed into the bladed-whip Zarkon used against him when they first fought, jamming it into Voltron's gut before shoving them back as electricity arched over it.

Keith grit his teeth, his muscles spasming in pain as the unwelcome energy hit him, practically burning against his own.

**"You should've fled like your predicessors," **Zarkon sneered. **"Now, the time of the Voltron Paladins is finished."**

Voltron split apart, and Keith spat out a mouthful of blood, wincing every now and then as the dark quintessence of Zarkon's last attack negatively reacted with his own. Looking towards the Black Lion, he paled as he saw it wasn't moving. "Shiro?"

No response.

"Shiro!" he called again, his concern growing as his older brother still didn't answer. "Something's wrong with Shiro." Glaring at Zarktron, he and Red got between him and Black. "Guys, we need to stop Zarkon from getting the Black Lion."

-.-

Jaz grasped her flyer tightly as she prepared to get jettisoned out of the Castle like a missile. Hearing the beep and seeing the lights switch from blue to red, she grinned as the doors opened and she was sucked out into space.

Activating her trusters, she and Allura raced at the lead towards Central Command, the Blade members following right behind.

Looking over her battlefield she observed four platforms, each being levitated by a corrupted Balmeran crystal. On each platfrom stood a druid charging the Komar as Kolivan called it. The Komar itself appeared to be one of the biggest Balmera crystals she'd ever seen, possibly even bigger than the one she and Allura grabbed getting ready for this attack.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Kolivan release his speeder, letting it fly straight into one of the druid-supporting platforms.

"I like his style," she smirked following his lead and releasing hers. The fireworks as it hit and killed her druid were beautiful to watch in her own opinion. Landing on a piece of debris with the others, they got into fighting stances as Haggar and two more druids stood in their way.

"Attack!"

They paired off, one blade, one magic-weilder so neither team would be at a disadvantage.

Antok vaulted Jaz up towards their target, leaping after as she fired a blast of energy, meeting the druid's halfway. Running up the blade attempted to slice the druid in half only to growl as it teleported away.

Fortunately for Antok, Jaz was very perceptive and managed to cover his back before the lightning could hit him. She seamlessly leapt towards it, landing a solid punch to the gut that sent it stumbling back before jumping and giving a roundhouse kick hard enough to knock the mask clean off the druid's face.

Seeing his chance, Antok raised his sword and charged towards the druid. Jaz ducked, allowing the druid to be caught off guard as a massive tank of a Galra replaced the much smaller Awoken.

The last thing their enemy ever saw was a sword coming down on his head.

On the original spot, Kolivan and Allura narrowly avoided incloming blasts quickly trying to find an opening in order to gain the upper hand. Hurling his blade, Kolivan forced the druid to teleport to avoid getting skewered. This allowed Allura to leap to the platfrom it teleported to, swinging her staff down towards its head. She proceeded to jab at it, becoming more and more frustraited as it proceeded to glide and teleport away from her attacks. Fortunately, her swift speed did not give it the opening it needed to attack her.

Spotting a shadow out of the corner of her eye, she ducked, allowing Kolvan's blade to hit its mark and slice through the druid's mask before going back to its owner. With the opportunity he provided, she slammed her staff upwards, knocking the druid back off the platform and into the void of space.

"BEHIND YOU!" Jaz shrieked as she placed herself between Antok and Haggar.

-.-

Zarkon was kicking their reyms.

With each attack they tried to pull off, no matter how it was coordinated, he managed to dodge and/or delfect them. Following that with a strike of his own. The main reason for this advantage was the wing sheilds. They deflected all of their long-range attacks, making the lions have to go in closer to do damage. The problem was it brought them in range of the stupid bladed whip, Zarktron was using to thrash them.

The worst part is that Shiro hadn't responded yet and Black had just been floating uselessly.

Fenp Zarkon and his cursed bond with the Black Lion.

Spotting what he prayed was an opening, Keith dove Red towards their opponent's unexposed back. Her jaw opened, firing a blast towards the unprotected backside, and Keith could almost swear his prayers were answered.

Turns out, the universe was screwing him over again.

The wings shielded Zarkon from the attack, forcing the Red Lion to loop out of the way as the blast was deflected back towards them. Flying around looking for a different opening, Keith didn't have any time to dodge as the whip hurled Blue at him and Red. The resulting impact sending him flying into the dash where he was certain a couple ribs cracked.

Seriously, where were the quiznaking seatbelts in these things?

Fortunately, despite the new list of injuries Keith could add to the ever-growing amount from this battle alone, he felt like things were turning around as a familiar roar echoed over the battlefield. The Black Lion was back in the game.

Looking towards Keith last saw Shiro, he barely was able to comprehend the massive, glowing wings emerging from the lion's back before it essentially turned into a violet blur, flashing by quickly before it rematerialized behind Zarktron.

"The Black Lion can teleport," he muttered nodding to himself, "awesome."

/Wha…What did you do?/ Lance gasped.

Shiro panted, /I've got Zarkon's bayard/

"You mean you got your bayard," Keith corrected. It wasn't like Zarkon was the Black Paladin anymore, not that they'd accept him as their leader even if Black was still cool with him.

/We've only got a few minutes before power returns to Zarkon's ship/ Shiro reminded, /Now, everyone, form Voltron!/

-.-

Jaz's heels slid along the ground as she held up the shield protecting her and Antok from Haggar's attack. She'd forgotten how powerful this aspo was. How she'd force the young Awoken woman to press her limits day-after-day trough torture to see just how powerful her people could become. How she forced her and Shiro to mercilessly slaughter innocent people in an arena to test her improvements upon them. How she said that they would become the greatest weapons the Empire had ever seen.

She remembered watching as Haggar broke one of her closest friends down, destroying him likely beyond repair just to make him the perfect killer. Haggar was going to_ pay_ for what she'd done to them, _dearly._

Allura and Kolivan used the platform they were on to fly up to the large balcony on which the witch now stood. The Princess jumped off first, swinging her staff at her, forcing the sorceress to cease her attacks on the group below. As she turned to fight the Princess, Kolivan leapt behind her and swung his sowrd forcing her to teleport to the far side as Jaz and Antok jumped up.

The Awoken woman didn't even have time for her eyes to widen as she saw Haggar's back turned to them, preparing to fire at her friends. Without hesitiation, Jaz released a Warlock-like beam of energy straight at the wizard's back.

Haggar screamed. The attack sent her flying across the balcony, slamming her into one of the pillars rising up from the sides.

She groaned, slowly getting up, white hair spilling down her back as her hood fell. A blue-skinned woman with distinctive red marks bleeding down her face turned to glare at them with rage-filled golden eyes.

Jaz froze, there was only three races that looked that distinctive. And last she checked, Haggar didn't have the translucent wings of a Fae under her robes and she was too old to be an Eddesa.

"You—You're Altean," Allura stuttered confirming Jaz's suspiscions.

The Altean wizard shrieked, firing a dark blast right at Allura.

Only, Allura didn't react the same way others did when Haggar used magic on them, she didn't scream like Shiro had. No. She reacted the same way Jaz remembered when it was her turns as the subject of Haggar's experiments.

Allura absorbed it.

Finally running out of power, Haggar fell to her knees as Allura stood before her glowing with power. "Auy borr pikih fitwhua epuwlih oppudipw buhrf [You will never destroy another innocent world]!" Allura exclaimed in Altean.

Grabbing Antok and Kolivan the trio leapt off the large summoning circle as Allura's fists made contact with the ground. Landing on one of the platforms, they ducked as quintessence arched around the room, destroying much of the chamber.

"ALLURA!" Jaz called. "LET'S GO! THIS PLACE IS COMING DOWN ON US!"

-.-

/Hello Paladins!/ Coran called as Voltron's sword collided with Zarktron's own.

/You're alive!/ Hunk cheered voicing all of their relief.

/Is everyone ok?/

/Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry guys!/ a voice Keith didn't recognize came over the comms.

/Oh, great, Slav made it/ Lance grumbled.

_"Keith! The fighters!"_

Glancing out of Red, Keith scowled. The fighters were coming back online, meaning the timelimit for the virus was up. Things were about to get twenty times harder than they were before.

/The power on Zarkon's ship is returning!/ Coran exclaimed. /We need to get out of here! I'm going to get Allura and Jaz!/

Keith nearly blanched; what did he mean get them? Traveler, if they did something stupid he was going to kill them. Voltron ducked a swing from Zarkon's weapon. But he could focus on that later, adjusting Red, Keith braced her for impact as they separated and flew back at each other, the swords clashing violently enough to leave sparks.

Breaking off again, Voltron didn't waste any time flipping around and flying full speed towards their opponent. /This is our last chance! Let's finish this!/ Shiro encouraged.

Gripping the controls tighter, Keith released his supercharge. As he shoved the controls forwards, the sword sparked with extra energy and stabbed right into Zarktron's gut.

Only he wasn't quite dead. Shiro screamed as it grabbed the head of Voltron, sending agonizing energy they all could feel through their mutual bond.

Black roared and Keith could feel the power she and Shiro sent down to the sword, making it glow and burst with electric-white fire. They didn't hesitate, as one, the Paladins of Voltron used their combined power to rip the flaming blade up and through Zarktron.

The amount of quintessence in their opponent's system's grew like a pulse grenade before exploding with a bang.

Voltron was forced to separate, but Keith barely noticed it. He was more focused on the feeling of a weight in his chest he didn't even know was there being lifted. Zarkon's darkness, it was gone. They'd done it.

/What happened?/ Lance moaned.

/Did we win?/ Hunk questioned as the other lions began moving.

Jaz interrupted them, /Guys! We need to go!/

Keith nodded, they could handle their questions later. Flying towards, the Castle, Keith did a headcount: Yellow and Blue were in front, Green was to his left, Black…where was Black? Checking the scanners, he caught them below them, not moving. Shiro must've been knocked unconscious from the explosion, he did take a direct hit beforehand.

"Shiro!" he called turning Red and flying down towards him.

/We need to tow him back onto the ship!/ Pidge said flying after.

With Green's help, they were able to fly into the hangar before the Castle wormholed away. Keith scrambled out of Red, leaping out of her mouth, tucking and rolling as he landed. Racing towards Black, he barely heard the footsteps of the others behind him calling out for him to wait.

The lion's jaw refused to open, without even stopping to consider the implications, Keith turned on his jetpack, flying to the top and grabbing his knife. Stabbing it into the panel he wedged an opening big enough for him to squeeze his hand in and thus force the escape hatch open with a screech. Allura could scold him later, right now, Shiro was all that mattered.

Jumping in, he ran to the head, ready to force the cockpit doors open, but this time they opened on their own. Keith's heart sunk, "Shiro?"

He walked up to the chair, praying he would just find his brother unconscious. Instead, he was greeted by an empty chair and a bayard locked into its hold. The Red Paladin took a step back shaking his head in denial.

No, no, Shiro couldn't be gone. There was no way, not after everything. He promised, he promised he wouldn't leave again. He just wandered to a different area of Black, that was it.

_"Keith…"_

"Shiro!" he called praying for his brother to answer from somewhere in the lion. Yorak could look at the lion's scanners through him, he probably sensed Shiro somewhere. He just needed to look harder.

_"Keith…"_

Hearing footsteps, Keith's breath hitched and his head snapped up as he expected Shiro to walk in with a familiar smile as he embarrassingly rubbed the back of his head for freaking everyone out so much before apologizing with a warm hug.

Instead he was met with the confused and frightened looks the other Castle occupants as they finally caught up.

_"I'm sorry Keith. Shiro's gone."_


	25. Moving On

Chapter 25

**A/N: alright! Once again I just own the story and OCs involved, nothing else is mine sadly. But, I can now happily say we're onto season 3 of Voltron.**

**"Bold is intercom."**

**/commlinks/**

**_Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

Debris from their last battle floated aimlessly around them as Keith flew Red through again, desperately looking for Shiro as he checked the scanners. Behind him, Yorak hovered cautiously, his shell twitching and spinning occasionally as he tried to help his Guardian through his grief.

"Keith…" he began.

"We're going to find him, Yorak. He's not gone, I know it. I'm not giving up on him."

Yorak deflated. Keith was as stubborn as he was loyal to his loved ones, it was one of his most notable traits, one of the many reasons Yorak had for knowing that he was being meant to be his Guardian. But like any lifeform, Keith had his flaws. His loyalty and devotion to his loved ones was practically blind. For them, Keith would live, die, and repeat as many times as it would take.

After Shiro vanished from the Black Lion in their last battle, Keith had practically become incorrigible, using every spare moment he had to search for their missing teammate. He hadn't eaten for three days and hasn't slept since Shiro vanished. And it was affecting him more than what he'd let on. In training the Gladiator began to land more hits when previously it had usually had.

The ghost was certain the other paladins knew something was off too, they'd almost beat Keith in the last training session. They almost never did that. Besides, they couldn't be so blind to fail to notice the dark bags under the Red Paladin's eyes, how they would never see him at meals or any other time besides training, or missions, or diplomatic stuff; the latter was a rare event in general.

Yorak gave an audible sigh, turning to face Keith. "There's nothing here."

The young man's shoulders slumped and his grip tightened on the control's shaking with the effort as Yorak felt his Guardian's growing anguish. He caught the sound of a sniffle, and could see a light sheen over Keith's eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Keith barely kept his voice from cracking as he held back a sob, "Coming back to the Castle, Coran."

-.-

"Do I really have to wear this?" Jaz questioned tugging the collar of a dress Allura lent her. It was a bright magenta color, reminding the Awoken girl of her mother's hair. The neckline was low and the sleeves ended in gold cuffs, matching the tight corset around her waist.

"It is best to look presentable for diplomatic events," Allura chided sniffing her own gown.

Jaz narrowed her eyes, "I'm well aware of that, I grew up in the Awoken Royal Court remember?"

"Precisely why you shouldn't be complaining," Allura said and the other woman huffed grumbling something in her mother tongue as she put her hair up into a messy bun, letting a few loose pieces hang down. "Jaz, does this smell musty to you?"

The door opened and Coran raised an eyebrow as he walked in on Jaz sniffing Allura's dress. Both women froze and stood up straight. "Your dress smells fine Allura," Jaz stated.

"Sorry you had to see that Coran, it's just been a while since we've needed to look presentable," Allura apologized as the advisor entered.

"The Cubserions just declared independence after a thousand years of oppression," Coran waved off, "so they probably won't notice"

"Then why do we need to groom ourselves up like a L'jewo?" Jaz grumbled struggling to clasp the golden, jeweled collar around her neck.

Allura winced in sympathy as she fixed her hair. "This is going to be a serious diplomatic meeting."

"I've seen plenty of diplomatic meetings conducted in armor."

"Well, seventy-percent of diplomacy is about appearance," Coran said helping Jaz put the piece of jewelry on, "twenty-nine is manners, decorum, formalities, and chit-chat."

"Then the last one percent is the serious business about fighting for the freedom of the universe?" both girls deadpanned.

"Yes. Oh, and I forgot hors d'oeuvres. And that's at least two percent, so I'll have to recalculate—"

Jaz slapped her hand to his mouth, "Let's just forget the math."

Allura turned to face them, "We just freed these planets. Do you really think they're ready to come together and face the Galra?"

"The motivation for revenge is a strong one," Jaz shrugged.

Coran shook his head. "I don't think it's a question of wanting to fight back, but of believing that it's possible. It's up to you to give them faith."

"No pressure."

Allura slouched, looking down sadly, "It should be Voltron."

"We can't always put the fate of the universe in the hands of a giant weapon," Coran spoke. "At least, that's what your father believed."

-.-

Keith sat quietly on the far end of the couch as he waited for the rest of the Paladins to join him so they could prepare for the "diplomatic meeting" Allura was insisting they attend. A waste of time in his opinion. That time would be better spent trying to find Shiro, not sitting behind a table for talks he was barely going to participate in anyways.

Sighing, he got up and began pacing, trying to think of where to search next. He'd checked the battle grounds more then ten times. He'd even gone back to Arus and the Balamera just on the slight chance he could've been teleported there or something considering what he saw Black do in the battle. Could the Black Lion have teleported Shiro back to Earth? It was a possibility, he'd have to check Fallen pirate communication channels. There'd be chatter if Shiro suddenly reappeared on Earth or in the Reef. Maybe he should check the planet they crashed on after the first assault on Central Command, sure it was absolutely infested with Hive, but now that Shiro knew what those looked like he could've ended up there. Or was there somewhere else he could've gone?

Keith stopped dead in his tracks. What if he was back with the Galra? Zarkon still had a connection to Black in the final battle. Could he have forced Black to teleport him? If so, where? A random Galra warship? Central Command itself? A secret base? The possibilities were endless, each result being worse than the last.

Flopping onto the couch, he put his head in his hands. How were they going to do this? They didn't have Shiro, they couldn't form Voltron, the universe was in danger and his brother was still nowhere to be found. Why? Why did it have to be Shiro? Why couldn't it've been him? Keith could handle it, he could escape and find a way back. He was someone who was meant to be expendable.

So why did the universe insist on taking away everyone else who wasn't?

The door opened and he sat up straight. Looking down at the floor, Keith made sure his regular scowl was in place before he looked up to see who entered. It was Katie, furiously typing on her laptop, which she learned how to make hover at somepoint, when he wasn't sure. She unceremoniously threw herself across from him, not glancing up as she continued typing, probably looking at another lead on her missing family.

It was easy to tell who entered next because Allura and Jaz were debating on something about diplomacy and fashion. Keith felt his hand tighten around his arm, why were they doing that? Just having a normal conversation like nothing was wrong? It wasn't like they were missing a vital piece to their team or anything. The whole conversation made his blood boil. He could almost imagine something like that from Allura, given how harsh she'd been with them all in the past and how determined she was to destroy the empire at seemingly any cost. But Jaz…he never thought she'd betray Shiro like this. Talk about politics in fancy dresses while he was missing. She hadn't yet tried to help him with the search, no one had after the first few weeks. Coran helped every now and then, but even now it was sparingly.

They were all moving on as if Shiro hadn't even been apart of them at all.

The door opened again, and Keith glaced up through his bangs, surprised to find Hunk and Lance. Normally they'd be louder than Jaz and Allura; now they were dead silent, taking their seats looking worried. Had they failed their mission to free Puig?

"How was the Puig mission?" Allura questioned.

"We totally saved the day," Lance smirked sounding more like himself.

Hunk nodded, "Yeah, we got to try some of their food too. They haven't totally figured out their flatbread situation, but what they do with those centipedes is just out of this world."

"And they're totally ready to join the fight against the Galra," Lance continued.

"Nice."

"We brought back a few of their leaders to join the coalition."

"That's splendid!" Allura clapped. "Excellent work!"

Lance pulled out his phone as he started scrolling through photos. "You know, I gotta say, this is what's it's all about, freeing the people, lovin' the ladies, then bombin' down the road again looking for adventure Voltron-style."

Keith's head snapped up at that. Biting the inside of his cheek, he could taste blood as he kept his mouth shut. He wanted to throttle Lance. How could he just forget that they were currently missing a paladin, a teammate, their quiznaking _leader_?! Keith had been starting to think that his fellow paladin had finally started to grow up, but it seemed like he'd been wrong. Lance was just as self-centered as he'd been when they started this nightmare. All he cared about was the glory and the rewards of war. He didn't stop to think about what they'd done. How many helpless priosoners had they murdered when destroying Galra cruisers? How many civilian casualties were there when they fought on a planet? How much blood was on their hands? If Lance thought about that, then maybe he wouldn't take pride in those parades he was so insistent be thrown in their honor.

Maybe he'd be more focused on finding Shiro rather than boosting his own ego.

Hunk cleared his throat, pulling Keith out of his thoughts as he looked to the nervous Yellow Paladin, "That brings up one little issue. They all want to see Voltron, only we don't have Voltron anymore."

Keith scowled glaring at the floor. "We don't have Shiro anymore either," he spoke up, "in case you forgot."

They all flinched at the harsh edge in his voice, refusing to meet the gaze of the Red Paladin. Allura was the first to respond, "It may be difficult for us all to accept, but it is time to think about finding a new pilot for the Black Lion."

Jaz froze as she sensed a crackle of energy. Looking to Keith, she could see his eyes glowing almost red with rage as he shot to his feet. "I'm going to find him! Shiro is one of a few people who'd never give up on me. I'm not giving up on him."

He whirled on his heel, walking away. "Keith," Jaz tried standing up. Her friend didn't even glance back as he stormed from the room to continue his search.

-.-

Haggar stood silently watching the emperor as he remained unresponsive. He had yet to show any indication of waking from his coma resulting from the damage done in his final battle with Voltron. Which was probably for the best considering many of his injuries were still healing. She had yet to perfect the ways of Guardian healing to handle this degree of damage. Their power was something kept infuriatingly close to heart.

She turned and glided from the room, meeting the druid waiting for her. "No one is to be allowed in Emperor Zarkon's chambers," she ordered.

"Vrepit sa."

They turned and moved to their station to guard the chamber. Anything Lotor had prepared would not be able to get past her underlings thankfully. This way she could focus most of her attention of identifying which of the Voltron Paladins was the elusive Guardian.

A trump card of that caliber could not be afforded to be left on the side of their enemy.

The mere question was: which Paladin? From what she could tell when she managed to glimpse some armor going over the edge of the main engine room control platform, and the quintessence shield, she was dealing with a Titan. That thankfully narrowed down the options, immediately eliminating the Green and Blue Paladins. The former had the nature of a Warlock, while the latter's was that of a Hunter.

Leaving three options: the Yellow, Red, or Black Paladins. It was obviously not her Champion, she would've identified it right away during their experiments. Macidus said it was the Red Paladin, however, had he truly faced a Guardian, he wouldn't have escaped alive. There was also the detail of that one being a _half-breed_. No Galra, no matter how tainted their blood, had ever been chosen to be a Guardian. But, his quintessence was volatile enough to hold the possibility in comparison to the other paladins.

The Yellow Paladin was a viable candidate as well. Over eons of research, she'd seen the protective, often kind natures of the fearsome Guardians, Titans most of all. They devoted much of their lives to defending those who couldn't do so for themselves. Those who threatened that would be met with a wrath said to be wielded by gods. That certainly was in the Yellow Paladin's nature. But then again, it was also in the Red's.

She just needed a way to determine which one it was.

"Excuse me."

Glowering at being interrupted, she turned to see who dared bother her at this time. "What is it Commader Throk?"

He gave a salute, "Would it be possible to speak to Emperor Zarkon today? Another planet was lost to the rebellion and I feel he must be informed."

"Zarkon is fully briefed on all imperial matters. He certainly doesn't need your input."

"Of course. It is just I fear if we do not take decisive action soon, the Empire will crumble completely. Rebel activity should be crushed with our full might before more planets are inspired to fight against us."

"Lotor has arrived at headquarters at Zarkon's request to take command of the empire," she lied coolly. "Under Zarkon's guidance of course."

"Lotor?" he gasped. "Why is he not at his father's bedside?"

She snarled, "Zarkon needs no one by his bedside, least of all you!" She began striding confidently away, she had bigger things to worry about than a lowly commander.

-.-

"It is an honor to have you all here together," Allura smiled as they sat down for the meeting.

"I had the biggest bunker back on Puig, but it wasn't nearly this nice," a horned leader with dark skin, a blue beard and yellow and power-blue marks complemented.

A small green lizard with little frills spoke up next, "Well I spent the last decade sleeping in a spiny thistle thicket. You look wonderful though Princess. I'm glad I put on my best tarp."

"Welcome everyone, welcome," Hunk greeted as he walked into the room wearing an apron over his armor and holding a tray. Setting it down on the table he looked to the delegates with a wide smile. "I've prepared a few Earth canapes for our distinguished guests to enjoy while we talk galactic diplomacy."

The representatives oohed and ahhed as they took samples.

Clearly ready to start, Kolivan stood up. "The Blade of Marmora has gathered this intelligence," a map appeared on the center of the table, "since the fall of the Taken King, the Galra Empire has become the most massive ruling force in the universe. The sheer size of the empire is almost incomprehensible. It seems like it could rule another ten-thousand years."

"What about these orange parts in this sector?" Pidge questioned.

"That territory is currently under the control of the Cabal Empire," Jaz supplied twirling her glass lazily. "Fortunately, last I checked it's locked in a perpetual civil war as Emperor Calus and Dominus Ghaul fight for power. Furthermore, the empire's borders have failed to expand past the infamous Krein system."

Keith smirked slightly as the representatives looked relieved and the other Paladins looked confused. Seems his people were still fighting back after all. Wonder who was winning?

Kolivan cleared his throat. "However, we are beginning to see signs of increased rebel activity from within the empire," he continued areas of the map starting to turn blue.

Allura stood up, "We have a strategy to bring these forces together, free more planets, grow our numbers, and accumulate an army that can defeat the Galra in major battles." The map disappeared as Allura's gazed locked with the representatives, "But without your help, it will be impossible."

"The forces will all fight behind Voltron, right?" the electronic voice of a slim purple alien questioned.

"Yes, where is Voltron?"

"T-The people you see before you are the Paladins of Voltron," Allura nearly stuttered, "together they pilot the mighty lions that form the great warrior."

"Excellent! Can they form Voltron now?"

"Uh, well…"

"Voltron isn't a party trick," Jaz replied cooly. "I'm afraid using it for a mere display will waste precious energy that could be used to fight the Galra Empire."

"I'm certain it can't be that bad," the Puigian pressed.

"We can't form Voltron ok!" Keith snapped. "We can fly the lions, but Voltron is not happening."

Allura laughed nervously, "I'm afraid Lieutenant Jaz and the Red Paladin are correct. They can't form Voltron right now, but—"

"But nothing," Keith interrupted, "Shiro's gone. He flew the Black Lion, and until we find him there is no Voltron!"

"The lions are still a substantial fighting force," Kolivan added, "and this Castle is also a considerable weapon."

"Let's not forget Allura and Jaz's magic," Coran piped up.

The Blade's leader nodded in agreement, "The Blade of Marmora is willing to help."

"My people have been enslaved for centuries by soldiers who loo exactly like _you_."

"Yes," the Puigian agreed, "Our people have heard the legend of how Voltron defeated Zarkon. That is what gave them hope. What are we supposed to tell them now?"

Keith slammed his fist on the table, hard enough to make Hunk and Pidge jump as cracks spread under it. "Tell them to stand up and fight for themselves! We can't be everywhere at once and Voltron is GONE!" Standing up, he stormed from the room, leaving a deafening silence in his wake.

He was going to look for Shiro again.

-.-

Keith stood in front of the Black Lion after yet another fruitless search after his previous theories failed to pan out. What in the universe could he possibly be missing? There had to be a clue, something to tell them where Shiro was. Running a hand through his tangled locks, he tried thinking of anything that could possibly be useful.

At the entrance to the hangar, the others stood glancing between themselves looking for who was going to talk to the distraught Red Paladin. Only for Jaz to shove past them as she walked up to Keith, her boots softly echoing in the silent chamber.

"Hey."

"Hmm."

Treading carefully, Jaz slowly placed a hand on her old friend's shoulder; half-expecting him to slap it off, the other half expecting him to collapse from exhaustion. "You aren't the only one who misses Shiro, you know." She looked at Keith, frowning as he continued to stare at the lion. "We'll find him, along with the others. But we can't stop fighting the empire either; he wouldn't want us to do that for his sake." Glowing violet eyes glanced her way and Jaz clenched her jaw as she caught the fury in them. "Keith, I know what he meant to you, heck, he's like family to me too, but Takashi wouldn't want you running yourself ragged looking for him, I mean, look at yourself. When was the last time you ate? Slept? He wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

"I'm not giving up on him."

"I'm not saying you have to, but right now, you aren't thinking straight."

She realized she said the wrong thing as the Titan bristled, whirling on her with a snarl. "I'm not thinking straight?! Last I checked I was the only one still looking for Shiro! Even _you_ gave up on him Jazmyne!"

"We all miss him too," Lance said as he and the other Paladins said joining the pair. "I remember the thrill of meeting him for the first time when we rescued him and Jaz from that Garrison hospital."

"I grew up with Dad and Matt telling me stories about him," Katie added. "He was a legend at our house."

"The guy taught me everything I know about being a pilot," Hunk remarked, "which isn't much, but that's more on me."

"You're not the only one hurting, man," Lance said. "We're all right there with you. But you know he would be the first one to tell us that we have to move on."

Keith looked at Lance dully, he knew they were right. But that didn't mean he wanted to agree to it. Shiro was going to die one day, Keith knew that, even if he didn't have the disease currently eating away at his body, eventually he'd die of old age; leaving the immortal Guardian behind. All of them would, it was inevitable (with perhaps the exception of Jaz due to the ridiculous lifespan of the Awoken people).

He just didn't want to believe it would happen this soon.

"Keith," Allura spoke up and he turned to look at her, "I know exactly how you feel. But our mission is bigger than any one individual. Even those who are completely irreplaceable."

It wasn't the first time he'd heard those words, nor would it be the last. "I know." Turning back to the Black Lion, he clenched his jaw. "It's time to figure out how to reform Voltron."


	26. Change in Command

Chapter 26

**A/N: alright! Was last chapter angsty or what? If it wasn't, that's fine, angst is not my specialty anyways. I tried. So, once again, I just own the story.**

**/comms/**

**Bold is intercoms.**

**T****_elepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

"I wish Shiro were here to tell us how to go on without him," Lance sighed as they all sat in the common room trying to think of how to reform Voltron.

"Well he's not, we need to do this on our own," Jaz grumbled.

Pidge looked to Allura, "Allura, when we first arrived, you told me I'd fly the Green Lion and I thought there was no way. But then I found it and flew it, and then Hunk flew the Yellow Lion and he's not even a pilot. In fact, you told everyone who would pilot which lion."

"How did you do that? Did we ever find out how you did that? Can you do that now?" Hunk asked.

"Sadly no. When you arrived at the Castle, I immediately recognized the special quialities in each of you. But I don't know how to search the entire universe for a new Paladin."

"What about Jaz?" Lance asked.

The Awoken scoffed, "It would be fun, but something tells me I'm better suited for fighting in the Castle, not in a lion."

"Keith," Coran spoke up and all heads turned to the Red Paladin leaning against the wall, looking much better than he'd been in pervious weeks. "As the Red Paladin you are the Black Paladin's second in command."

"Keith would be the worst—ow!" Lance yelped as Jaz stomped on his foot.

"It would make sense," she smiled sympathetically. "I remember you being quite the leader when we were kids."

Violet eyes flickered away seeming unfocused as he gazed across the room. "That was a long time ago."

"Wait, seriously?" Lance gaped.

Even Pidge looked doubtful, "We all have our thing, I'm the brains, Hunk's the nice one, Allura's the decision maker, Coran's the wise old guy, Jaz is our sorcerer, Lance is the goofball, and Keith's the loner. Him being a leader wouldn't really fit his personality."

"Wait a sec! I'm the cool, ninja, sharpshooter! Not the goofball!" Lance protested.

Keith scoffed and Jaz snorted. "Seriously? Because you still haven't beat us in training," he joked lightly.

Lance scowled. "I'm being completely serious when I say I don't want _you_ to lead me anywhere!"

He nearly flinched at the obvious distrust, but Keith didn' blame him. Who would want _him_ as leader? Unlike what Jaz believed, Keith was certain he wasn't the ringleader of his friends when they were kids. It wasn't his fault their teachers assigned him leadership during training patrols. It wasn't his fault they expected him to be someone who could take command and inspire others, someone who could be a hero.

It wasn't his fault they expected him to be his father.

"Look, I don't want to be leader! That's just what Shiro wanted!" he snapped. Realizing what he said, Keith's eyes windened as he looked away. Quiznak. He did not mean to say that.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing."

"Shiro wanted you to be his successor, didn't he?" Katie voiced.

Keith hunched further in on himself. He didn't want leadership. Last time he took it was the worst time of his life. He still wasn't sure how many of his friends died because of his stupid decisions that day.

If he took charge, Keith would lead Voltron to their deaths. He was certain. He wasn't the leader Shiro was…and he'll never be the leader his father was.

"Well I never heard him say anything," Lance hissed corssing his arms, "and how convenient that you're bringing it up now that Shiro's gone!"

"Lance!" Jaz snapped.

"If you want to job so badly Lance, take it!" he exclaimed tossing his arms up in the air.

"Wait," Hunk started before Pidge shot up.

"What about me? I picked up the radio waves that led us to Voltron in the first place!"

"Hold your gazurgas everyone," Coran interrupted. "It's not our decision to make. We must allow the lion to decide."

"Coran is right," Allura agreed. "We must all present ourselves to the Black Lion, to see who will bare this glorious burden."

"What? You Princess?"

"My father created Voltron. How can I allow others to risk their lives in battle and not be prepared to do so myself? I must try."

-.-

"So who's first?" Hunk questioned as everyone stood in their armor before the Black Lion.

"Should we draw straws?" Pidge suggested adjusting her glasses.

"I'm thinking of a number between one and fifty!" Jaz offered and Coran waved his hand.

"I have it: Allura first, Jaz is second, Pidge is third, and then the others."

Lance sighed, "Fine."

Allura walked into the lion, after approximately ten minutes, she returned sulking and Jaz groaned. She jogged inside and returned less than five minutes later looking unsurprised. Katie grinned and ran into the lion after her; she came back several minutes later complaining about the seat.

Now that the three women had tried and failed, Coran turned to the men. They decided Hunk would go first. He came out less than a minute later.

"You didn't even try," Coran chided.

"Yes I did. I sat down…" he trailed off glancing around nervously. "I don't want to leave Yellow! I mean, it's big, it's got this super armor, it's safe."

"But you called the head."

"I know. I wanted to form the head with the Yellow Lion." Coran contunied glaring at the Yellow Paladin. "Fine." Sulking, Hunk walked back inside.

Fifteen minutes later, Coran was calling Hunk out of the unresponsive lion. "Alright, you're not the one. Out of the lion."

Hunk came out and Lance gave him a high five as he rushed inside with a smirk.

As time passed, Keith felt the weight in his stomach growing. With each rejection, the odds of the lion choosing him grew. Keith didn't want to lead, everyone hated him as it was, his bad leadership skills would just make things worse. Who would listen to the "loner" of the team? The person who kept too many secrets? There was always the chance that he'd be discovered and have to leave, unless Voltron wanted more enemies breathing down their backs than there already were. A lone Guardian to many would be seen as easy pickings to bounty hunters, slave traders, Hive, Galra, and Cabal alike; especially if they believed he didn't have his powers.

His team would end up getting hurt because of his existence.

"So," Pidge drawled, "how long are we gonna let Lance sit in there?"

"Yeah, it's been half a varga," Hunk agreed.

Jaz sighed walking towards the lion. "I'll get him." Going inside, she came back out a minute later with a fuming Blue Paladin tailing her.

Tossing his helmet down, he fell to the floor like he was throwing a tantrum. "It's useless! The Black Lion hates us all!"

"Keith. The Black Lion hasn't responded to any of us," Allura spoke looking to the Red Paladin. "You have to try."

He closed his eyes and lowered his head. That's exactly what he feared.

With a small gulp, he walked into the dark cockpit of the lion feeling lost. This was Shiro's lion. He didn't deserve to be in there. He wasn't a leader. Sitting down in the chair, he hesitated as he reached out to grasp the controls. What if Black accepted him? Would the others even respect him as their leader? And what did that mean for Shiro? There was a chance that meant he…no, no. Keith shook his head dispelling the thought. Shiro was fine. If he was accepted, it would just be a temporary setting. Once they found Shiro everything would go back to normal.

"I know you wanted this for me Shiro, but I'm not you," he whispered grabbing the controls lightly. "I can't lead them like you."

For a few moments, Keith could sense Black judging him. Hope grew in his chest as she seemed to be uncertain, maybe she wasn't as willing to give up on Shiro as the others were either.

Energy thrummed under his fingers and his hope was effectively shattered as everything began to power up.

"No," he murmured, "please no."

Black roared as she powered to life. Despite his wishes, Keith was now the leader of Voltron. She lowered her head, letting him descend the ramp towards the others.

"I'm proud of you Keith," Allura spoke, "I wish you were getting the job under better circumstances, but congratulations."

"Congratulations Keith," Pidge nodded.

Hunk waved, "Ditto man."

"Shiro'd be proud," Jaz smiled.

"I don't accept!"

They all gasped. "But you must. The Black Lion has chosen you."

"I can't replace Shiro. You guys are right, I'm the loner! I'm no leader."

Lance stepped up and placed his hand on his teammate's shoulder. "No one can replace Shiro. But the Black Lion wouldn't choose anybody it didn't feel was worthy to lead Voltron. I respect it's choice, you should too."

Keith frowned looking back to Black. "But what about Red? Who will fly her?"

Jaz promptly grabbed Allura and slung the Princess over her shoulder. "Let's find out!"

"Jaz!" Allura protested.

Twenty minutes later, both women returned to the common room. Jaz looked miffed while Allura looked despondent. "It didn't accept either of us. You getting anything from her Keith?"

"She's sulking. But so far I'm getting the feeling she doesn't think you're a match for her yet."

"I'm sorry Princess. I know how much you wanted to pilot the Red Lion," Coran apologized.

"I'm fine."

"Good because now we need to find someone to pilot Red," Jaz deadpanned. "So overall the situation's still the same, now just for a different lion."

"Aren't you a ball of sunshine," Lance grumbled.

"Where would we even start looking?"

Lance smirked, "I think we should start getting some alien diversity on the team, and I know some cool mermaids who could be good at it."

"You just want to see them again," Hunk muttered.

"Exactly."

"What about the Blade of Marmora?" Jaz offered. "I'm pretty sure Red would take one of them, they're almost as reckless as Keith." She elbowed her friend with a teasing smile, pouting when he only gave a tiny one in return.

"Or the Olkari!" Pidge threw out.

The screen activated revealing the chief of Puig. **"Voltron—we need your help! The Galra have returned! Once you left we were defenseless! My people are trying to hold out but the Galra are too powerful."**

"The lions are on their way! Hold you ground and protect your people until we arrive. Voltron stands with you."

-.-

Getting to the bridge, Keith stopped himself just as he was about to enter the elevator to Red's hangar. Right, he wasn't supposed to do that anymore. His throat suddenly went dry as he walked towards Black's. Were they sure that this was right?

"Keith," Allura said. "The Black Lion has chosen you. You can do this."

"You'll be fine you delc!" Jaz waved wearing a wide grin.

Stepping into the elevator, Keith couldn't find it in him to share their sentiments.

The path to Black was practically the same as Red's, however, in the place of red lights illuminating the passage, there were violet. Getting to the cockpit, he grabbed the controls. "This one's for you Shiro."

Flying out, he began dispensing orders. "Alright guys, we're not about to let the Galra take back this planet, so follow me."

/Where's Lance?/

"What?" checking his scanners, he frowned seeing the Blue Lion had yet to join them. "Lance! Where are you?"

The was a frustraited groan. /My lion's not responding to me!/

Keith wanted to bash his head against the console. Of course, his first mission as leader would go this way! It was just his luck! Now instead of being one lion down they were now two lions down.

"Figure it out and catch up!" he commanded as they sped towards the planet.

_"Keith! Incoming!"_

Hitting the brakes, Keith managed to stop as a Galra ship jumped out from hyperspace. **"Attention Paladins of Voltron. This is Prince Lotor, son of Zarkon, Emperor Pro Tem of the Galra Empire. Surrender now or you will be destroyed."**

_"Zarkon has a brat?! Who would want to tykk him?!"_ Yorak exclaimed and Keith found himself agreeing with the latter question. But what had him concerned was the phrase "Emperor Pro Tem" that typically meant temporary so unless…

Keith paled. Qogralbar, Zarkon was still alive. Their mission failed.

Shiro's loss had been in vain.

/We've been set up!/ Pidge exclaimed as fighters began to fly out from the warship.

"Evasive manuvers! Everyone, watch your backs!"

Keith flew Black weaving the massive lion through the battle. She was slow in comparison to Red and every other ship he'd flown, so it was an adjustment he was dealing with. Just one he wished he wasn't needing to figure out in the heat of battle.

_"We've got a problem."_

"What?!" Keith snapped blasting at a fighter.

_"Oh nothing just the swarm of Galra fighters coming our way."_

"What!" he exclaimed whirling Black around to see the horde. Several split off to go after Pidge and Hunk, both of which were handling covering each other's backs just fine. That just left him with the group now currently following on his tail. "Pidge, Hunk, these controls don't respond like Red's. I need some help."

/There's too many for the three of us!/ Hunk called as they were cut off by a group.

Growling, Keith fired another blast, spinning Black in the hopes that the moving beam would take out or damage enough to even the odds. "Lance! Get out here _now_!"

/He's on his way! He had to take Red!/ Jaz informed.

"Red?"

/Yep! Allura's got Blue now!/

"Yay," he replied watching the two fighters chase him.

/Incoming!/ Pulling Black up, Green shot past ambushing the two fighters.

/Keith, what should we do?/ Hunk questioned.

"We have to attack the ship," he supplied.

/Uh, can you be more specific, we need an actual plan!/ Pidge protested.

A light caught his eye and Keith had barely any time to brace himself as a blast grazed one of Black's wings, sending his lion spiraling back. Quickly getting her back under control, he glared at the ship.

/Keith!/

"I'm fine! We can't take that guy on alone."

/You won't have to!/ Lance said zooming past in Red, leaving a trail of explosions in his wake.

_"Seems like Lance is handling Red well."_

"Ha saads fe cesflel hos sdaad a loffla mela fheygh [He needs to control his speed a little more though]," Keith remarked.

_"True, at that rate he'll crash at somepoint."_

An explosion rocked the main ship. /Need help?/ Coran asked as beams from the particle barrier shot out and ripped through the fighters.

"Thanks Coran!" Keith called, ramming Black into a fighter. He had to admit, what she lacked in speed was made up for in brute strength. "Alright everyone! Let's see if we can focus our attacks on the primary ship!"

A growl rumbled in his mind and Black yanked herself out of the way as the laser fired again, hitting the Castle. /HEY!/ Jaz screamed and a shield materialized over the particle barrier as another beam hit. Hopefully she could hold them off long enough for them to take down the ship.

Flying around the ship, Keith arrived just in time to watch Lance barely avoid slamming Red into it. "Hey! Careful with Red!" Traveler if he damaged her Keith was going to knock Lance into next century.

/Fly your own lion, Keith!/ he exclaimed turning Red to look at them. And then they crashed into a fighter. /I meant to do that!/

Lance was so lucky the explosion didn't damage her.

/Wow, we're really kind of a mess/ Pidge remarked. /We need to get organized. Keith! What should we do?/

"I don't know! We need to form Voltron but we're still short a lion," he replied. Where was Allura? Jaz said something about her and Blue.

/Not anymore!/

Speak of the devil.

/Awesome!/

Once Blue came out, the ships turned around and went into hyperspace.

/We did it!/

/I mean it was a little touch and go there for a second, but, yeah, we made it!/

/Allura, you and the Blue Lion! How cool is that?!/

/Yes! It was a bit of a surprise, but a happy one/

"Zarkon has a son," Keith stated chewing the inside of his cheek as he mulled over the new information.

/Yes…this is deeply disturbing/

"We need to find out more, something tells me we haven't seen the last of Zarkon."

/What makes you say that?/ Jaz questioned.

"He said something about being Emperor Pro Tem."

/Oh…fhsusc'hhk'h!/

-.-

Keith walked up the ramp to the Black Lion, putting on his helmet. Swinging his hand, Yorak materialized, quickly flying over to the controls. "Is it working?"

"The tracker is active."

"Good," he said sitting down and grabbing the controls. "Let's go."

The ghost blinked, looking at the Castle before turning to face Keith. "What about the others?"

/Keith! Where are you going?/ Jaz questioned.

"Have everyone get to their lions, I put a tracker on Lotor's ship. We're going after 'em."

/Now?!/

"They wanted me to lead Voltron, right? Well this is how I lead."


	27. Team Dynamics

Chapter 27

**A/N: alright! Next chapter! Yay! As always, I own nothing of Destiny of Voltron: Legendary Defender.**

**"Bold is intercoms"**

**/commlinks/**

**_Italics is dreams/telepathy/flashbacks_**

The five lions flew past a multicolored ringed planet that reminded Keith a lot of the gas giant Kronos in the Krein System. However, he could reminisce later, Lotor was the priority.

/Lotor's cruiser's on the other side of the planet/ Pidge informed. /With our current rate of speed we'll be within attack range in an hour/

"Good, hold formation," he ordered.

Yorak hovered next to him, keeping an optic on the scanners. "Target sighted." On his monitor, Keith watched as it zoomed in and focused on the ship.

There was a loud crash and Allura apologizing afterwards, /Sorry Hunk!/

/Mm, is attacking right now is a good idea?/ the Yellow Paladin questioned. /You know, since not everyone's so great with their lions?/

/Do you mean _me_, specifically?!/ Allura accused.

/You? No! Now way, I didn't—I'm just simply pointing out that more than half of the team's in new lions. Maybe now's not a great time to bite off more than we can chew/

/You can blame our hot-headed leader for that!/

Keith scowled growing tired of their arguing. Was this how Shiro felt? If so, the first thing Keith was going to do when he got back was apologize for being so troublesome. "First you want me to lead and then you complain about how I do it. I believe in learning on the job," he snapped. "Prince Lotor is the heir to the Galra Throne, we could end his reign right now."

Red pulled back. /Allura, you doing ok in Blue?/

/I'm fine. I've been flying the Castle for half my life. I just need a few ticks to adjust to the lion/

Just as long as she learned quickly. "Good, we're going in."

"I've got movement!" Yorak informed and Keith glanced to the monitor watching as a bogie began to separate from the ship. Probably a fighter or transport.

"Hide," he ordered and the ghost vanished in a flash of light. "Alright everybody, Black's detected some movement."

/So much for the element of surprise/

/It's just a single fighter. Where's the rest of them?/

"Probably scrambling as we speak. Take it out." Thrusting Black forwards, he watched his opponent warily looking to see if he'd make the first move. The fighter flew down, probably intending to come up and strike from his underside. Before he could prepare his counter, Red slammed into him from the back. "Lance! What're you doing?!"

/Sorry, Red's a lot faster than I'm used to…Where'd that fighter go?/

Quiznak! Looking around, Keith grunted a fire hit Black. Seems this was the distracting they needed to get the advantage. Flying Black forwards, the Black Paladin growled; while he appreciated the extra armor, it unfortunately made his lion too slow to maneuver the way he needed in order to shake his attacker. "I can't shake him. Someone get him off my tail!"

/Incoming/ Pidge informed.

A powerful blast jostled him in his seat. "Allura!"

/Sorry Keith!/

/Seriously, does this thing have brakes?!/ Lance questioned zooming in front of Black, narrowly missing collision.

Traveler, this mission was going sideways fast. Fire from the fighter hit his lion again as they continued weaving between the lions like a pesky fly that refused to be swatted. Whoever they were, Keith would admit, their pilot skills and tactical abilities were impressive. Not many sould fly a ship skillfully enough to enable their opponents, whom out-numbered them five-to-one, to attack each other and miss their primary target.

As proven by Blue and Yellow colliding head on as the fighter lead them into a game of chicken.

/Who is this guy?/ Lance grumbled, /He's pitting us against each other/

"It's gotta be Lotor," Keith said. It had to be, there was only four other people he knew who could fly like that and one was back at the Castle, one was missing, the other was fighting the Red War, and the last was none other than the insane Hunter Vanguard. Lotor was the only option.

/Ow. Allura, you ok?/

/Fine, but these controls are not responding, not like the Castle. What's wrong with you lion? Do as I command! Move!/

/Maybe someone should suggest to Allura that flying the lion is different than flying the Castle?/

/I already told her yelling wouldn't work. Didn't go over well, she yelled at me too/

/Yeah, count me out. She scares me when she's under pressure/

/I can hear you/ Allura snarled and Keith nearly muted his comms at how loud the rest of them screamed.

"I'qu fekrinv fiht ixiehj [I'm working with idiots]," he muttered. Literally anyone else in the universe could pick this up faster than them? Why was this so hard? They didn't know how to fly a lion before starting this insane quest, and their first missions went just fine. The only differenced now were that they were in different lions and Shiro was in charge. Learning the controls for a new lion wasn't much of a change. Two of them hadn't even changed lions for Chirst's sakes! What was so hard about this mission for them to grasp that?

/Keith! What do we do?/

"How about this? Everyone stay out of my way!" he snapped.

/Great. Great leadership/

Ignoring Lance's patronizing comment, Keith flew after the fighter, firing as he managed to get behind it. they flew up, quickly flipping around before diving down at him shooting. Black growled and Keith felt a flash of pain run through his body. "Ok, new plan, we need Voltron. Everyone, in formation!"

Flying in formation, Keith closed his eyes, trying to feel for the other lions. Why was it taking so long? It never too this long before?

/Guys, I'm not really feeling that Voltron feeling!/ Hunk protested.

Keith grit his teeth. It had to work. "Keep going!"

/It's not happening!/

Keith released a snarl as he glared at the controls. "What's going on?!"

/Fighter!/ Lance warned.

Snapping his attention away from the controls, Keith dove Black out of the way of the incoming fighter, hoping the others would follow his lead. Turning Black up, he watched the fighter turn and leave.

/That was embarrassing/

/So…should we call it quits?/ Hunk voiced, /Maybe go back, regroup, get a meal?/

"No!" Keith replied. "I know everyone's struggling, but we can't let Lotor get away."

-.-

Lotor flew towards a large planet with massive rocky spires jutting out through the stormy atmosphere.

"He's trying to hide from us," Keith hissed as the fighter flew down into the clouds.

_"Keith."_

"Skoros [what]?"

_"This planet, it's Thayserix."_

Keith blinked, it'd been a while, but he was familiar with this planet. It was a place Holliday would often talk about during her lectures on having to pilot blind. Without scanners and other systems to help navigate. In order to even fly on Terra, it was a requirement to know how to navigate places like this.

Swinging his hand, Keith let his ghost materialize. "Uxsajh jonjekj [adjust sensors]."

With a small bob, Yorak began working as Keith tapped his comms. "Alright guys, this planet's gonna be a little rough. Adjust your equipment as you can. Otherwise, hope y'all're ready to fly blind."

/TO FLY WHAT?!/

/Keith! I'm not sure following him is the best idea! We don't know what's in there!/ Pidge protested as he shot forwards after wards.

As they dove into the clouds, Keith glanced at his scanners, frowning as they glitched for a split second before returning to normal. Traveler, what he'd give for good Terran tech; equipment that wouldn't mess up just because of a different atmosphere.

/Guys, we have a problem, our scanners are malfunctioning. I think it's because of this planet's atmosphere and strange magnetic poles/

"I told you already that it was a possibility, so don't worry about it!" Keith snapped. "We are not letting this guy get away!"

/Keith! Without accurate sensors we're not going to be able to tell what's up or down, where we are, or how to get out!/ she pressed. /I say we fall back!/

"And I say we keep going!"

/Going? All I heard was going. Are we going back?!/

/Is anyone else getting static?/

/I'm losing visuals on you all. I need you to slow down!/

"We've gotta keep up. He's getting away!" Keith snapped pulling Black ahead of the group.

/Guys I think this gas is messing with our radios. We'll have to stay close in order to communicate/

Watching his scanners, Keith smirked as it locked onto Lotor's ship. With a growl, Keith thrust Black forwards, flying up after the prince as the others followed behind him somewhere. It wasn't long before he was tailing the prince, weaving right behind him through the maze of spires.

A loud clang echoed through the area, and Keith looked at a screen as it appeared, showing Blue spinning out of control. Allura must've ran her into one of the rocks.

/Allura took a hit! I'm going after her!/ the Yellow Paladin stated diving down despite Keith's protests.

Muttering a variety of curses under his breath, Keith glared at the others. "The rest of you, stay with me!" he ordered, flying after Lotor. They dove around a column, turning harshly before diving down toward's the planet's surface. Pulling up, Keith glanced back to make sure Pidge and Lance were still with them before focusing his attentions back on his target.

/Keith! We have to go back for Allura! You're splitting up the team! Don't do this!/

Shouting in frustration, Keith whirled his lion around, flying back to where Blue and Yellow sat waiting for them.

/Is everyone ok?/

/I'm sorry that I slowed us down, but the Blue Lion isn't listening to me/

/It's ok. We're a team. We stick together. Isn't that right Keith?/

Keith narrowed his eyes; it wasn't unusual on raids for slower fireteam members to get left behind. They would catch-up when they did, that's the way it was done. The frontrunners would clear the way and the stragglers would provide cover as needed. That's what he'd been expecting of Hunk and Allura. "It's not about the team. We have a mission that's more important than any one of us. Currently, that is finding Lotor and stopping him. That's what I'm doing right now," he stated. Ignoring them, he turned and flew up into the atmosphere, activating the scanners to pinpoint Lotor's fighter.

Flying through the fog, Keith frowned, his scanners should've picked him up by now. With a quick swing, Yorak was floating by his side. "Zeejh hto jonjekj, fo yun'h poh tiqu voh ufuch [boost the sensors, we can't let him get away]."

"Keith, uko chea jako htij ij hto zojh ixou [are you sure this is the best idea]?" the ghost questioned.

"Ftuh xe chea quoun [what do you mean]?"

The light gazed at him with a blink, "I quoun htuh...fopp, hto ehtokj ukon'h uj mkomukox wek htojo hchmoj ew quijjienj—Neh piro chea uko uh poujh [I mean that...well, the others aren't as prepared for these types of missions—Not like you are at least]."

"Unx [and]?"

"Moktumj ih feapx zo zojh he fuih unx wivth unehtok xuch. Htoko'x zo ne tukqu in pohhinv htoqu voh jequo hkuininv in kivth [Perhaps it would be best to wait and fight another day. there'd be no harm in letting them get some training in right]?" Yorak pressed, "Zojixoj, ne ewwonjo he htoqu, zah Lotor'j fuch eah ew htoik pouvao; yakkonhpch unchfuchj [Besides, no offense to them, but Lotor's way out of their league; currently anyways]."

Keith let out a tired sigh, "Sajh zeejh hto jonjekj [just boost the sensors]."

/I can barely see a thing!/ Hunk called.

"Stay together, guys," he reminded. "He's around here somewhere. I know it." Just as his sensors blipped, Keith saw the ship passing through some of the rocks. "There!" They dove forwards, Keith leading the way through the rocks as the fighter tried to shake them. "You aren't getting away that easy."

/Is anyone else getting the feeling that he's led us here for a reason? You know, like a trap?/ Hunk worried. /Maybe that he's flipping the script? Turning the hunters into the hunted?/

/Hunk! Shouting taglines is getting us nowhere!/

"Just stay calm," Keith reminded as they dove around another rocky spire.

Within his ship, Lotor was seething. He must've underestimated the scanners within the Lions because they (or the Black one at least) seemed to be having no trouble at all keeping track of him in the hostile environment.

/I'm so done with this guy toying with us!/ Lance growled.

"Feel free to fire if you have a clear shot."

Taking his advice to heart, Lance fired, then promptly was sent reeling back as it blew up in his face. it was enough of a distraction to send everything into pandemonium. Lotor began flying around everyone, and every time someone tried firing at him, it blew up in their faces.

All in all, when the chaos was over, Keith had no idea where anyone was save for Red, whom crashed on a rock nearby. /Where is everyone?/

Keith shook his head even though he knew Lance couldn't see it. "It's my fault," he whispered, "I put the whole team in jeopardy." All because he couldn't see past the differences between Voltron and the Guardians. They weren't the same, and as much as Keith wanted it to be, they never would. Voltron needed teamwork, trust, and communication just to function propery. With Guardians, you could be placed with a team you didn't even know and still complete the objective without communication just as long as everyone cooperated and played their part. There didn't even need to be a clear leader, often among teams, there never was. With Voltron, the Black Lion was the leader; a body couldn't function without a head to guide it.

/Yeah, you kinda did…but now we gotta fix it/

Keith nodded in agreement, "Let's go."

With that they both flew away, relying on luck and Keith's scanners to find the others before Lotor did.

-.-

Allura ended up finding them. She connected with Blue during their time apart, which was one bonus point after that horrible mission. The Princess also told them about how she froze Lotor's left engine, which was another bonus.

Using her sonar, it didn't take them long to find Pidge and Hunk. /Hailing Pidge and Hunk. Are you paladins looking for an exit?/

/No way! You guys found us!/ Hunk laughed in relief.

"Actually Allura, found you. She found all of us," Keith was more than happy to correct. "She was able to connect with her lion."

/Wow. How'd you do it?/

/I just had to get into a Lance-like mindset and stop thinking so much/

/Yeah, think like Lance! Wait a minute…are you calling me dumb?/

/No. I'm calling you a natural/

/Naturally dumb/

/Yeah, he was born with it/

Keith snickered. "Look, I'm glad we're all making fun of Lance, but we still need to find our way out of here."

/I know a way out/ Allura immediately volunteered. /Wait a tick, one problem, looks like Lotor called for back-up/

/Aw man/ Hunk groaned, /It's always something/

Looking at his own amplified scanners, Keith grimaced. Allura was right. And it looked like Lotor brought enough friends where just the lions alone wouldn't be enough. "We'll have to form Voltron if we wanna get out of here."

/But we weren't able to form Voltron the last time we tried/

"We have to keep trying. We may've come here fragmented and disorganized, but the only way we're getting out of here is if we work together. This is our team. Shiro believed in us. We have to believe in ourselves. Who's with me?"

/YEAH!/

"Now, form Voltron!" Keith commanded as all the lions came together.

And with that, the transformation took place, and Voltron was back in the universe once more.


	28. Through the Looking Glass

Chapter 28

**A/N: alright, I say the same thing every chapter, so once again: I just own the story. Nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**Bold is intercoms**

**_Dreams/flashbacks/telepathy_**

**[translation to whatever language I'm using]**

"What is that?" Jaz questioned as they stared the main monitor, watching the distress becon.

"I don't know, this hasn't gone off before," Pidge shrugged.

Lance turned to look at the princess, whom seemed to freeze in place. "Allura, what is it?"

"Looks like they just saw a ghost."

_"Hey! I'm not that scary!" _Yorak protested. _"Am I?"_

"Tukxpch [hardly]."

"That's just the thing," Coran voiced. "It's an old Altean distress code. One used by King Alfor's ships."

"Could it be? Are we not the last Alteans alive?" Allura whispered.

Keith and Jaz shared a knowing look. The only living Alteans they were aware of were back in their home system, far from their current location. From what they learned in history, almost all of the searches for others weren't very fruitful due to what they now knew to be the Galra hunting them down. A ship this old would've been discovered by either the Awoken, Fae, Alasian, Hevnoan, or Wuldian ships that set out searching.

Unless someone knew it would get the Princess' attention.

"Wait," Keith spoke up. "What if someone's cloning the signal to lure us into a trap?"

"This signal is from an Altean ship, and we're going to find it," Allura sneered, ignoring the Black Paladin's reasoning.

"I agree with Keith," Jaz frowned, crossing her arms. "I can't even count the number of times I've seen our patrols lured into traps with false distress signals. That fact that it's one you recognize is even more suspicious."

Allura shook her head, "I don't care. I need to see this for myself," she stated activating the wormhole. And before anyone could protest, they flew through it.

Popping out on the other side; they could see the ship, along with the bright portal the back half was sticking out from.

"That looks like a Tel-Galax exploration shuttle. One of my father's deep space vessels."

"Yay, for once it wasn't something wanting to kill us," Jaz cheered unenthusiactically.

"According to the ship's identification code, it's Commodore Trayling's ship. But I don't see any records of its destination or mission."

"What happened to it?!"

"Is it stuck in a wormhole?"

"For ten thousand years?"

"That's unlike any wormhole I've ever seen."

Pidge pulled up a scanner, "There's a massive amount of energy emanating from it, centered right where the ship is stuck."

"We have to see if anyone's aboard. They may need our help."

"Sorry to be the Debbie Downer here Princess, but if they do need help, it'll be getting them into caskets."

Allura whirled on Jaz, "They could be alive! They could be in stasis just like we were!"

Jaz leveled an even glare, not backing down. "Sorry to break this you, but I know my shipwrecks. This, it's something sudden. No one would've had time. Besides, we don't even have the front-half."

"What if we send a probe?" Pidge suggested raising her hand, jumping slightly as the two older women turned to look at her. "See if we can get some kind of idea what this thing is?"

"Do it," Keith nodded before they could start arguing again.

Firing the probe, Pidge began to look over the data she was receiving. "The energy shows no signs of radioactive decay and it's not thermal."

"It's not gravitational either," Hunk piped in, "our probe is steady on course. And the light's radiating out, not in like it would with a black hole."

"But out from where?"

"That energy signature," Coran muttered, "I know it…IT'S RADIATING QUINTESSENCE!"

At that moment, the probe made contact and was fried.

"Oh, that's weird."

"Ok, let's not go anywhere near that."

"We must," Allura pressed.

"Hold on, didn't you just see what happened?" Hunk questioned as they all shared wary glances.

"Voltron's compositional strength far exceeds anything else in the universe. We received an Altean distress call, which must mean someone's alive on that ship."

"Not necessarily, distress becons can be triggered all kinds of ways. Even if your primitive designs require someone to be there, there's no certainty they're hoping who you _want_ them to be!" Jaz emphasized. "And last I checked, there was no, specific certainty that Voltron can survive going close to that thing. The universe is far bigger than you think. I _know_ it's not the strongest thing out there. There are things _far_ stronger and more powerful than Voltron, and you know it too Princess. I won't risk their lives based on a _hope_."

Allura seemed to shrink back for a moment before standing up straight, looking Jaz in the eye. "As Paladins of Voltron, it is our duty to help."

"I still think it could be a trap," Keith reluctantly remarked, not failing to notice that his best friend practically all but rubbed it in Allura's face that she was right.

"Even if it's not a trap, it's far too dangerous to go out there," Coran agreed and Keith could swear Jaz was preening.

"I'll do it myself if I have to," she said storming from the bridge.

-.-

"Daar los zomaar zaak [This is a terrible idea]," Jaz stated as she leaned over Keith's seat as Voltron flew towards the glowing vortex.

"Zu'u vust'ni rolur zos [I couldn't agree more]."

"Ruz druv los dreh daar [Then why are we doing this]?"

Keith shrugged, "Dahik mu nis vos Allura kos hinzaal naalein [Because we can't let Allura be stupid alone]."

Jaz scowled, looking like she was debating on blasting the ship just to keep them from entering it. "Niidro getiid med daar Zu'u irkbaan fuhilpiin kroson [It's moments like this I hate teamwork]."

Keith chuckled, "Hi ahrk zey ney [You and me both]."

/Are you two talking about me?/ Allura accused.

"Oops, had my hand on the comms," Jaz apologized jumping a bit.

/So you were talking about her?/ Hunk questioned.

"Hunk, didn't you take Awoken at the Garrison?" Jaz questioned raising an eyebrow.

/Yeah, but…I'm better at Eliksni ok?/

"Alright guys, that's enough chatter, we need to take this slow," Keith interrupted as Voltron came to a stop outside of the glowing vortex. "Pidge, any chance you could explain what we're looking at right now?"

/The Euclidian space around the ship is obviously some kind of anomaly. But the energy source doesn't originate from anything that registers with my understanding of how reality works/

Keith pressed his lips together at the answer. "I'm taking that as a 'no'."

/I'll scan the ship for biorhythums/ Hunk said going quiet for a moment. /I'm not picking up anything/

/Maybe not on this half, but there's more to this ship than we're seeing/ Allura replied. /We need to go through there/

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Jaz shrieked. "That's a terrible idea! In case you haven't noticed Allura, but we don't know what happened here. Half the ship is quiznaking gone! Grow up and accept reality: they're _dead_! Stop letting your petty hopes get in the way of our mission and potentially _kill _everyone here!"

/How dare you talk to me that way!/

"OH what way?" Jaz sneered.

"Jaz," Keith pressed glancing back at her.

She looked like she was about to continue arguing, but after a moment she took a breath and sighed. "Fine, I'll yield for now. But if we die, I'm going to kill her."

Keith nodded, "Alright, press forwards, but be prepared to abort should things get hairy. Pidge, keep a close eye on Voltron's vitals."

/Roger that, ready to abort immediately/

/Guys, my sensors are going crazy. Technically we should be torn apart the same way the probe was, but some how Voltron's completely unaffected by the stress of the spatial distortion/

/Hello? What're you seeing?/ Coran called. /I'm losing visual on all of you/

They flew into the light and came out on the other side, just above the bow of the ship. /We must've come through because that's the front of the ship/

/Wait/ Aluura said as Voltron turned looking over the edge of the anomaly, /the back half of the ship is gone! And so's the Castle! Coran! Coran! Are you there?!/

"Where'd he go?" Keith questioned looking over his scanners.

"Was that planet always there?"

Keith looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Uh…not that I recall."

/According to my sensors, we're still in the exact same place as we started/

"Obviously not."

/Guys, this is gonna sound strange, but now I'm picking up multiple biorhyhthums aboard the ship/

/Alteans/

"Or pirates!"

/Well, we've only got one clue that'll help us figure out what's going on here/ Lance grumbled. /And it's floating right over there/

"Yay," Keith and Jaz cheered.

-.-

"Gaomas mirros nūmāzma bisa vestragon gön naejot ao [Does anything about this seem familiar to you]?" Jaz questioned as she and Keith joined the others at one of the entrances into the ship.

Keith frowned, now that he was thinking about this situation, it was stricking a chord of familiarity. He just wasn't sure which one. He nodded, "Cylö [Yeah]."

Getting inside the ship was easy enough, but once they entered the dark halls, no one was really sure where to go. "Hello?" Allura called, her question echoing into the darkness, "Is anyone here?"

"We're going to die."

"Way to be positive," Lance remarked.

Jaz shrugged, "I try."

As the others started drifting down the hall, Keith couldn't help but look back. Something about this place wasn't right.

Jaz tapped his shoulder, adjusting her grip on the semi-automatic he loaned her. "Nika shumsaa [You ok]?"

Keith looked back down the other way. "Daor, nyke ȳdra daor pendagon īlon're mērī [No, I don't think we're alone]."

"Sȳz ñuhoso iā quba ñuhoso [Good way or bad way]?"

Keith scoffed, flying after the others, "Iksis konīr mirre iā sȳz ñuhoso [Is there ever a good way]?"

"Daor [No]."

The feeling just continued to grow the further they crept into the abandoned ship. At this point it wasn't a matter of what, it was a matter of when. When was whatever was stalking them through this place going to make its move?

As a door hissed open, Keith pulled out his sword and Jaz readied her gun, both aiming down the path as the others jumped, aiming their lights down the empty hall.

"Man this place is creepy," Hunk shivered. "Is anyone else getting the haunted ghost ship vibe? Anyone? Or is it just me?"

Ignoring the Yellow Paladin's worried mutterings, they drifted down the hall looking for any signs of life. They didn't find any, but they did find a lab. Allura went in first, not hesitating to place her hand on the pad, activating the ship's power and gravity.

"Did the crew abandon ship?" Keith questioned looking around confused. He so far agreed with Jaz that something happened, but maybe there was enough time for them to evacuate? If Allura's descriptions of Altean ships were right, then they should've been finding more bodies.

"I don't know," Lance said walking to a set of armor crumpled on the ground, "but they couldn't have gotten far without their space—AHHH!" He screamed, quickly scrambling backwards and dropping the helmet as he got away from the body. "THOSE AREN'T EMPTY!"

"Hey guys, look at this," Jaz said starting a video.

**"We located the second comet based on King Alfor's information. We managed to get it aborad, but it seems to be causing some massive disturbances. We're heading back to Altea, but I don't know if we'll be able to make it that far. At this rate—"** he was cut off with a scream as a bright light filled the screen and shut off.

"What happened here?"

"Something deadly."

Hunk pulled up a scanner, "It doesn't explain the biorhythums I picked up in this area?"

A vent cover was kicked down and two figures, one humanoid, one similar to Slav, jumped out brandishing guns. "LOOK OUT!" Lance exclaimed as he and Jaz both whirled on the newcomers, firing their weapons as Hunk tackled the Slav-like one.

Their opponent rolled out of the way, raising his own gun, before Keith swung down with his sword. Cutting it in half before kneeing him in the helmet. The man stumbled back, kicking Keith in the gut as he charged. Blaster fire rang out and the helmeted figure jumped out of the way, throwing his gun into Lance's head.

"HEY!" Jaz shouted. All heads turned to the Awoken woman who held her gun at the head of the other masked form. "Missing something?"

"Jaz…" Hunk began.

"Lower your weapons and take off your helmet," she ordered calmly ignoring the worried looks of the rest of the group. Albeit reluctantly, the humanoid removed his helmet, and they all froze as Shiro stood before them. His hair was longer, all black, and he had no scars, but it was him.

The shock was enough for Hunk and Jaz to stand down, letting their hostage slither over by his side. the black screen of his helmet deactivated and they saw Slav.

"No way…Shiro? Slav?"

"How…?"

"Stay back!" a Scottish accent snapped leveling a gun at them.

"If you've come for the comet, you'll never get it. I'll die before I let it fall into an Altean's hands!"

Keith deactivated his bayard, waving his hands calmingly. "Shiro, please."

"My name's not Shiro!"

"You sure about that?" Jaz questioned removing her helmet and the man across from them froze.

"L-Lyra? But…I—we…it can't be," he said lowering his gun, "you disappeared…"

"Whoa! What's happening right now?" Hunk cried out. "Did everyone get amnesia and then wake up with weird accents?!"

"You know us?" Slav demanded.

"How could we forget?" Jaz grumbled and Lance nodded in agreement.

"She's right. You're Shiro, our leader. Paladin of the Black Lion. And you're Slav. I helped rescue you from a space prison. You're also crazy."

"I may be crazy. But you've never rescued me from anything before. Unless…"

"Alternate reality!" Slav and Pidge realized simultaneously.

"Uh, what?" Hunk questioned as Keith and Jaz smacked their foreheads simultaneously, going off to each other in another language the translators absolutely refused to pick up no matter how many times they had fixed them.

The only thing Pidge could decipher was the word "Vex." And while it didn't hold any meaning to her, it obviously held meaning to alternate Shiro and Slav. Both of which glanced at each other, making a nod.

"I think when we passed through the glowy-explody area, we entered an alternate reality," Pidge explained.

"You mean like what Slav was always ranting about?" Lance questioned before looking to alternate Slav. "Well, not you, but a different you. One that talks about alternate realities a lot."

"Oh, that's him," alternate Shiro groaned.

"Why did you attack this Captain and his crew?!" Allura demanded stepping forwards.

"Allura, he's dust and bones," Jaz stated stepping between them, "the crew's been dead for a while."

"We found them this way, Altean," not-Shiro hissed. "Lyra, get away from her."

"My name isn't Lyra, it's Jaz," she corrected. "Jazmyne Venj."

"Right, alternate reality," Slav said smacking his forehead.

"Wait, what happened to Jaz's alternate, Lyra, right?" Hunk questioned.

"We don't know, she vanished in the Vex Labrynths trying to reach the Crystal Vaults."

Keith and Jaz shared a look Slav recognized. "I take it you two know what I'm talking about."

All heads turned to look at the duo. "Yeah," Keith confessed. "The Vault of Glass definitely rings a bell."

Jaz nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I remember our parents talking about that mission."

"Wait, wait, slow down," Lance interrupted. "But what is the Crystal Vault or whatever this place is called?"

"It's a place that exists outside of time and reality as we know it," Jaz informed, "used by the Vex to as a predictive engine to control space, time, and reality itself in order to ensure their victory. Didn't we have a team destroy it?"

Keith nodded, "But that was years ago."

"I'm sorry, I think I'm a little left out of the loop here," Lance interrupted, "but: who are the Vex?!"

"Well, first off they're—uh oh," Slav said. "More Alteans."

"Wait, more?"

"Their scanners must've picked up your arrival," Slav said. "Sven! Let's go!" Vaulting Sven up into the vents, Slav turned to look at them. "Jaz, if I were you, I'd take my friends and run." And with that Sven lifted him up into the vents and they left.

"What just happened?"

"Did he just say we were being boarded by Alteans?" Allura questioned.

Clangs echoed down the halls, and everyone (besides Allura) readied their weapons, aiming them at the doors. They slid open, revealing a horde of sentries that stormed in, weapons drawn. Surrounding them, the two Alteans plus…some alien strode in. "Put down your weapons," a woman with maroon hair and teal marks ordered.

"Make me!"

"Alteans," Allura breathed with wide eyes.

The woman blinked, "It can't be." Stepping forwards, she bowed at their feet, the sentries and others following her lead. "Empress Allura."

"Empress?"

"Uh, I'm confused. What's going on?" Hunk questioned.

"Are you Empress Allura?"

"I'm Princess Allura," the Pink Paladin corrected. "Please, stand."

"I'm Commander Hira, Empress. How can you be here? You put down the Galra Uprising and established the Altean Empire ten-thousand years ago."

"Where we're from, Altea was destroyed by Zarkon," Keith stated.

"Where did you come from?"

-.-

"Amazing," Pidge admired as they stood around examining the comet sample Green retrieved earlier. "It's Voltron."

"It's Vex," the scientist hissed at the same time.

"What?"

"I mean it's obviously not Voltron, but the readings from this comet were the same as what Zarkon was searching for. The same ones that led us to the Blue Lion," Pidge clearified looking at the fuming man.

"That's how you were able to pass through into this reality. Your vehicle was made of the same trans-reality material as this comet, and now as we know, the Vex. Which explains why they travel through various dimensions and reality so effectively."

"So that's why Voltron's so powerful."

"Indeed. With this material, Altean can create their own trans-reality travelling ships. We can spread our peace and stability to all realities and finally drive back the Vex Scourge," he grinned tapping his comm. "Mipiher Hira, o'ki xytw fotdukihif e newihoer wlew borr iptyhi Altea't hyri guh norrippoe wu duni [General Hira, I've just discovered a material that will ensure Altea's rule for millennia to come]."

Jaz's head snapped up and she shared a glance with Pidge. The small Green Paladin leaned over to her friend, whom had been helping her understand the Altean language, "Drey Zu'u nunon hon tol viilut [Did I just hear that right]?"

Jaz nodded, whispering back to her, "Fey nau dein ahrk naav vorey. Zu'u lost pruvos ko daar lein, Nust los volzah vachj [Stay on guard and warn the others. I have a feeling in this universe, they're the bad guys]."

-.-

Keith trailed after Allura and Hira as they made their way to the bridge. "So the Alteans of this reality, defeated the Galra?"

"Led by you, My Empress. Without your will to fight and avenge the loss of your father, Altean wouldn't have been able to spread peace and stability throughout the universe. Defeating Zarkon was merely the first step. We refuse to give up until all worlds know the true peace Altea's achieved."

"That's so wonderful," Allura smiled.

"Advancements have been made. Citizens that might've had to worry about being casualties of war in Empress Allura's day can now be rehabilitated. Entire races who warred for millenia can now know peace and help us further our new world."

"So they become apart of the Altean peace movement?"

-.-

"No struggle, no war. That doesn't even sound possible," Hunk smiled.

"Is it not? Look at Moxilous, for generations his people have been in constant battle with the other planets in their system. It was a barbaric futile existence, but look at him now."

"What changed?" Jaz questioned crossing her arms. "Because what I've learned being in the military, is that some races won't stop, no matter what your peaceful offers are."

The sleezy scientist chuckled, "Of course not. That's why we invented the hoktril." He motioned for Moxilous to turn around. "Our civilization's most advanced technological achievement."

Lance raised his hand, "What does it do?"

"It saps the fighting force from our enemies. Their will you might say."

"You mean…slave labor?"

"Oh, no, no! they're not slaves because they don't have will. Slaves always try to escape and revolt, non-cogs are content to do as they're told," he corrected, snapping his fingers and the alien turned around. "Preservation of life is the Altean Empire's highest priority." He bent down, admiring the sample once again. "And with this material, we can do even more than we thought possible."

"And I've heard enough," Jaz snarled raising her gun. "You're no peacekeeper."

A gunshot echoed down the halls.

-.-

"You're taking away their free will," Keith rebutted, practically bristling as Hira finished her explanation.

"The same will that would end your life with no remorse. Thanks to us, no innocent will lose its life to the free will of an evil being," Hira countered. "Empress Allura, let me show you something." Tapping her wrist, a hologram of a planet appeared and Allura gasped.

"Altea."

"Come with me. Allow me to show you the magnificence it has achieved."

"Returning to Altea…It seemed like such an impossible dream. I could never allow the thought."

"Allura, this might not be the Altea you remember," Keith pointed out.

"You're right, this Altea is home to a people who made sure the Galra were unable to spread across the universe," Hira snarled and Keith bristled.

"Yet you were unable to handle the Vex? Whom my people have successfully driven back from conquering my universe," he retorted, taking a bit of pride as she balked. "And we did it all without taking away people's free will."

"Keith!"

-.-

"Was that really necessary?" Lance questioned as they shot around the corner at the group of sentries standing between them and the way to the bridge.

"Yes," Jaz growled reloading. "They scrambled that man's mind, turning him into nothing but a zombie for them to use as they pleased. Trust me, nothing good comes from that." Trying to aim again, she yelped as a blast nearly hit her head. "Tolakniir nii!" Slinging the gun over her back, glowing orbs began materializing in her hands. She rushed out into the hall, barely avoiding being shot. Hurling the orbs down the hall, Jaz leapt back and took cover just as they exploded, frying the sentries.

"Wow," Lance remarked as they peered around the corner, "remind me never to get on your badside."

The vent cover popped off again, and they all jumped as Sven and Slav appeared. "Oh, hey, you guys," Hunk greeted, lowering his cannon. "How'd you find us?"

"We followed the sound of explosions," Sven supplied. "What happened?"

"Jaz killed the scientist dude and blew up the sentries."

Sven graoned, "You may be from another reality but you're definitely Lyra."

"We need to reach Keith and Allura and find a way to stop the Alteans from getting that quiznaking comet," Jaz snarled.

"Way ahead of you, we just need to do one or two more things. Wanna help?" Slav offered.

They all glanced at each other, wearing matching smirks. "What'cha got in mind?"

-.-

Hira leveled a glare at him before turning back to the Princess. "Empress, I assure you, we will do everything in our power to help. The comet in this ship holds the power to travel between realities. If you will activate this ancient ship's power, we can fly forwards and remove the comet from the tear. We can use it to travel to your universe and bring peace there. Even to the Galra."

Allura stepped towards the controls and Keith took a step after her. "Allura, think about this. It wasn't that long ago we thought all Galra were bad. Things are never as black and white as they seem to be."

"Keith. These are my people. They may be the strongest allies we have in this war."

"At the cost of people's free will!" he reminded. "Allura, they are stripping away the free wills of _millions_, maybe even _billions_. Races who may've always been peaceful, we don't know. What we do know, is that they come in, and strip it away. Leaving only Alteans as those with free will. They are turning these people into _slaves_." He met Hira's glare, challengingly. "Just because the method is different, doesn't mean the outcome isn't the same."

Allura ignored him, stepping up to the controls which glowed and rose up to meet her hands.

"DON'T DO IT!" Jaz screamed as she and the others rushed in, brandishing their weapons. "Allura, they aren't the Alteans you think they are. They're the Galra of this universe!" Grabbing the being that came with the Alteans, she pushed him forwards. "Here is your proof! He doesn't do anything he isn't told, hasn't spoken a word since we arrived, and has no free will. He is a _slave_!"

"For the last time, non-cogs are not slaves!" Hira snapped. "Where is Viziyr?! He will make sure you can no longer spread chaos and destruction!"

Jaz shrugged, tapping her gun. "A little here, a little there. It was hard to tell."

"Empress, command this unruly being into controlling herself."

"Hira," Allura said glancing between her friends and the commander, "we both want the same thing: peace."

"I'm not sure we do. Your weakness has brought nothing but suffering to your universe, where we have brought peace and order to ours. And with that comet, we'll bring peace to every reality. You're no empress of mine."

"And you're no Altean," Allura growled brandishing her bayard.

"Dogpile!" Sven called as he and Slav jumped out of the vents, landing on the two sentries in the room.

A sword came out of Hira's arm, and she swung it towards Allura. Her blade met Keith's and she blinked as all of her momentum stopped as the infuriating Red Paladin got in her way. "Don't start a fight you can't hope to win," he smirked. Ducking, Hira, gasped as a blue whip wrapped around her throat. Allura yanked on it, sending the commander flying into a wall.

"We better hurry, there's only a few minutes before the bombs go off," Slav said.

"Bombs?"

"You two take a pod, we'll go get the comet and take it out of this reality," Allura ordered.

"Good luck to ya," Sven nodded.

"To you as well," Jaz nodded as they split up, racing towards their respective locations.

Racing through the halls, they put on their helmets and shot out into space. They each got into their respective lion, powering it up.

"Alright everyone, first thing's first, we need to get that comet, and get outta here," Keith said. "Pidge scan for the comet."

/Already go its elemental signature/

"Are Slav and Sven clear?"

/We're leaving right now!/

Keith nodded. "Everyone, we're going back in to get it. Form Voltron!"

It wasn't long afterwards they were cutting through the hull with their sword. With a twist of the blade, the forced the opening wider, allowing Voltron to fly in.

"Wow, this is a lot bigger than I thought," Keith muttered.

"Keith, grab now, gawk later."

Grabbing the meteor, they flew out, watching as the ship split in half and the anomaly vanished. /We need to go through the exact spot the anomaly was or we're never going home/ Pidge warned.

"Good, we already know where it is," Keith smirked driving Voltron to where the broken ship was falling away. Voltron came to a crashing hault as the anomaly formed around them and they slowly continued to press through.

Something then blasted them from behind, and everything went dark.

-.-

Coran stood at the Castle's controls watching anxiously for the Paladins to return since they vanished. Looking up again, he nearly cried out in relief as he watched the glowing portal open up again, spitting Voltron and a glowing meteor out. "You're back! Thank the ancients!" he cheered. "Paladins? Can you hear me? Are you lot alright?"

His worry began to grow as Voltron just continued to float aimlessly, but before he could try again, an explosion rocked the starboard side as Lotor's cruiser approached taking the rock.

"Paladins? Can you hear me?! Are you ok?!"

/C…Coran?/

-.-

Keith approached Allura whom sat sulking on the bridge, looking out where the anomaly had once been. Comfort wasn't his strong suit, but someone had to do it. "Allura, you did the right thing. You couldn't let Hira get that ore."

"But now Lotor has it."

"You didn't know."

She turned, gazing up at him with disappointment. "That's the problem. We never know. And it's exactly why my father sent the lions away so many years ago. To avoid this reality. I finally understand."

"You don't know that for certain," he sighed. "But either way, we're going to get it back."

"What if we don't? Lotor's always one step ahead of us. He has a plan for that ore, and if he succeeds, the Galra will finally have a weapon as powerful as Voltron."


	29. Lost and Missing

Chapter 29

**A/N: I just own the story and OCs. Nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold's intercoms/videochats"**

**D****_reams/flashbacks/telepathy_**

The first thing he was aware of, was the color violet. It was everything that surrounded him. it was soon gone, replaced with more distinct shades, forming into the cruel tools of a Galran lab. Realizing where he was, he sat up with a scream, a mess of white hair falling into his eyes as a black, tangled mess fell over his shoulders.

A medical officer stood at a console, one with a familiar white stripe. "Ulaz?" he whispered, his own voice sounding broken and hoarse to him. How long had it been since he'd last spoken? How long had he been gone? Voltron? What happened to them? Was the team alright? Looking back to the medical officer for answers, he blinked as he vanished. A hallucination? Wasn't the first time he'd had one, but why him?

Shoving the question aside, Shiro grunted as he slid himself off the table onto his feet. Unable to support his weight, his legs gave out, sending him collapsing to the floor. But that wouldn't stop him. with a grunt, he forced himself to his feet, drunkenly stumbling through the halls of the surprisingly empty Galra vessel. The lights burned into his eyes as he passed by, and at one point, he nearly swore that he saw himself being experimented on one of Haggar's lab table's again.

_Some thing was injected into him. It hurt._

_He was standing on a dark metal triangle, putting his hand out, he found his fist meeting glass. Purple liquid began to fill the tube. He couldn't breathe. "Operation Kuron stage one successful. Begin stage two."_

Gasping for air, Shiro took a minute to remember where he was. He wasn't in a tube, he was in the hall. He just needed to find a way off and get back to Voltron.

The first blaster shot caught him off guard. He jumped as it hit the ground in front of him, and Shiro turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. He wasn't kidding himself, he was in no contition to fight those guys. As he raced past a junction, Shiro had to duck in order to avoid getting his head blasted off as two more sentried joined the pair chasing him.

Three more an into the hall in front of him. Not slowing down, he activated his arm, swiftly slicing through the first two. Rolling to the ground, he jumped up punching the last one into the wall, leaving cracks where it hit.

Then he felt dizzy again.

Stubling slightly, he managed to snag the trooper's gun as he took off running again. Using his new weapon to blast his way through the ship and into the nearest escape pod.

The ship fired at him as he flew away, one shot managing to hit an engine. Looking at the planet in front of him, Shiro prayed that he'd last long enough to at least crash there and hopefully survive.

-.-

Shiro woke up upside-down, his leg pinned under a piece of metal, as his ship teetered precariously on the edge of a cliff. Trying to pry the metal off his leg failed, but a ray of hope came as his blaster slid by. Now if only he could reach it without knocking it off the edge.

The ship jostled as it began to slide, moving the gun just enough for him to grab it. Without hesitation, Shiro blasted the debris off his leg, ignoring the pain that exploded afterwards. He had to get off this ship. Sprinting up, he jumped out as the ship fell into the abyss below.

He wasn't sure how long he just lied there, out in the cold, just watching snowflakes slowly drift to the ground. It almost seemed…peaceful.

Too bad that kind of peace often meant a merciless death when involved with the cold. He had to keep moving if he wanted to stay alive. Getting up, he limped away from the cliff, hoping there was somewhere he could get a ship.

-.-

"General Raht. I have an assignment for you."

"I serve in the name of Galra."

"I fear Lotor's focus wavers since his return," Haggar said turning to the general. "I knew there was risk bringing him back after such a long absence. And I worry about the path he leads us down. I need you to keep an eye on him. Follow his cruiser and report any suspicious behavior to me."

He saluted. "Vrepit sa." Turning to leave, he gave a nod to Macidus as he entered the chamber.

"Have you learned anything about which Paladin it is?"

"I am still standing by my statement that it is the Red one."

"None of the others can co-oberate your story, and after your previous track record. I would not be inclined to believe you otherwise. During the last battle with Voltron I did a reading of their quintessence. I have narrowed it down between the Yellow and Red," she said. "Find them both, tell the others to find a way to get the Guardian to unveil his true power and retrieve proof."

"High Priestess, we are doing everything we can."

"Then do better! Like it or not, rumor already begins to spread. And I fear for the empire, should they discover that a Guardian has aligned with them."

The doors opened and both druids turned as a nervous-looking soldier stepped in. "H-High Priestess, I've been sent to inform you that Project Kuron has entered stage three."

She grinned, maybe finding out which Paladin was the true Guardian wouldn't be so difficult after all. "You're dismissed," she said and the man quickly scrambled from the room.

"High Priestess?" Macidus questioned.

"We will use Project Kuron to figure out our little dilemma. Because if there's one weakness Voltron has, it's their trust in their leader."

-.-

The travel to his unknown destination had been slow going, and cold—scratch that—quiznaking freezing. He'd almost been certain he would've frozen to death had he not found the remains of what had once been a large animal along with the materials needed to start a fire.

Looking at his leg, he grimaced as blood still slowly trickled out. The bleeding hadn't stopped since the ship, and even with his lacking medical expertise, he knew that wasn't normal. Looking at his hand, he activated it and moved to cauterize the wound.

His screams echoed into the snowy darkness for miles.

He walked with a limp the next day as he continued his trek. The bandages he managed to make out of his shirt helping keep the wound from getting worse, but it wouldn't mean anything if he died of hypothermia, starvation, or dehydration. All three of which seemed to be trying to race for the literal finish line.

Fortunately, it wasn't long after that he stumbled across an oasis in the frigid environment. Licking his dry lips, Shiro sprinted for the water's edge, ignoring the pain in his leg. He slid to his knees, divind his hands into the cold water and scooping it into his mouth.

Kami-sama, when was the last time he drank anything? He wasn't sure he could remember.

A ripple traveled across the water, lapping at his kness. With a slight frown, he glanced up, blinking at the sight of a rock. Had that been there before? He wasn't sure it had. But then again, he was a little preoccupied to bother checking his surroundings.

The black object began to slowly drift in his direction and Shiro got to his feet. Wasn't there something the Garrison always recommended doing around water sources?

The memory hit him like one of Jaz's magic blasts: Always check for predators.

A crab-like creature sprung out of the water towards him. Shouting, Shiro scrambled to his feet, barely leaping out of the way as it hit solid ground. One if its massive pincers swung, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying a good few meters. It chared after, forcing Shiro to jump back as it continued to chase. Glancing back at his attacker, Shiro's eyes widened as he caught a pincer swining down towards him. Relying mostly on his Galra arm, his grabbed it forcing it to a hault. Seeing his chance, he sprung up, crawling up its back.

Only things didn't exactly go according to plan. Just before he could smash through the beast's back, the two tenticles he'd forgotten about wrapped around his neck and arm. Slamming him into the ground and pinning him.

The beast growled above him, drool dripping from its fangs. This was it. He was going to die at the hands of this beast. He'd never see any of his friends again.

The tendril around his neck tightened, cutting off his air. "H-Help," he gasped out weakly, trying to use his free arm to pry the limb off.

His prayers were answered in the form of blaster fire. Several shots ringing out before the creature screeched and scampered back into the water, leaving Shiro both relieved and stunned.

As his vision faded away, two shadows stood above him.

"This must be the one who crashed the pod," the larger one spoke.

As he passed out, Shiro barely glimpsed a third shadow approaching, an almost familiar voice speaking out over the others, "You're not eating him you d'hsusmhbhharhshsfefhs."

_Blinding light consumed his vision. He couldn't blink, he couldn't move; not with the Galra restraining him._

_"Subject Y0XT39 has normal response to optic stimuli. Approved for use in Operation Kuron."_

Light began to slowly filter into his vision, not at all like the light from his dream. Blinking a few times to focus, Shiro found himself staring up at an icy ceiling.

"What's he saying?"

"I can't tell, but he's coming out. Get the Captain."

Quickly sitting up, he almost blacked out again as he scanned his surroundings. He was in an icy room, lying on some sort of sleeping bag.

"Why should I get the Captain?" the voices continued arguing.

"Because it was the Captain who insisted he wasn't an enemy. And did you remember to put the clamp on him?"

"Which clamp?"

"The one that keeps his arm from turning into a weapon!"

"The red one?"

"It's the only clamp we have!"

Looking at his arm, Shiro now understood what the extra weight on his side was. That apparent clamp they were arguing over. So, he wouldn't be fighting his way out of here. Hopefully he wouldn't need to.

"Do you two ever stop arguing?!" a third voice interrupted, this one sounding familiar.

"Captain!" they yelped and there was a clang like something had fallen over.

"How is he?"

"Uh…"

"Ugh! I uohe'rk'h ugygt'hh gygd'hgygoht'hhs [I work with idiots]!" the voice grumbled in a familiar language. Perking up, Shiro all but stared as the Eliksni of the Kerberos crew strode in, now easily the size of a Captain, bearing robotic arm like his own. Three red eyes and one yellow robotic one met his own, and the helmeted figure sighed. "You're awake. Good. I was afraid you were dead."

"Darvah?" he breathed, "you…"

"Got hotter? Yeah, I'm well aware, feel free to admire," he chuckled reaching out and ruffling Shiro's head. "You grew your hair out from that ridiculous haircut!"

"It wasn't ridiculous!" he defended.

"Sure, it wasn't." He raised his upper-right arm, "Our arms match now!"

Shiro nodded. "What…what happened?"

"Druids. Anyways, I'm glad to see you're alright," he said sitting beside him and handing him a cup, "I wasn't sure what happened to anyone after we were separated. After the cult was done with me, I managed to lead a riot at one of the work camps with the help of some rebel forces, been here ever since on spy duty. How'd you get out?"

Shiro chuckled, enjoying the warmth of the cup seeping into his frozen fingers. "Jaz and I escaped the gladiator arena with the help of Galra rebels. We stole a pod, crashed on Earth, then were sent flying right back into space with Voltron."

"Voltron? You found it? I thought it was a myth."

"Well, we found the Blue Lion first, then the rest," he corrected.

"Then…how?" the Eliksni motioned to his attire.

Shiro shook his head, "I don't know. Last thing I remember was piloting the Black Lion as we were fighting Zarkon, then I woke up on a Galra ship."

"And then you escaped again and crashed here?"

"Sounds about right."

"Is he dead?!" a new voice interrupted.

"Can we eat him?!" another followed up.

Darvah scowled, "Hold on a sec." Getting up, the man left the room and Shiro grimaced as he heard several loud smacks and shrill yelps. "FOR THE LAST TIME! WE ARE NOT EATING ANYBODY YOU LITTLE MONSTERS!" Storming back in, Darvah plopped himself beside his old friend again. "Sorry about that, I was given tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dee as my subordinates. So, where were we?"

"We were talking about my most recent escape."

"Right," he nodded. "So, we established that. So where's Jaz and the other Paladins? Why weren't they with you?"

"I—I don't know. I'm still not completely sure what happened. But I think they're safe…at least I hope they are," he said looking down into the cup, which at somepoint had become cold in his grasp.

"If Voltron had been captured, we would've heard it in the Galra's radio chatter," Darvah muttered tapping his mask. "Here, I'll be right back." Taking the cold cup from his hand, Shiro watched the Eliksni move to the other side of the curtain, returning holding a steaming bowl of soup. "Take it slow. Don't want you to throw up on us now."

Nodding, he began taking small sips, enjoying the feeling of something finally filling his stomach.

The Captain slowly sat down beside him again. "So Takashi, tell me about you and Jaz's adventures with Voltron. Who're the Paladins?"

Talking between bites, Shiro began explaining, "Well, first off, all the Paladins, besides me are Garrison cadets. When Jaz and I crashed on Earth, the Garrison got to us first and quarantined us. They broke us out and we flew off in the Blue Lion."

Darvah blinked in shock. "Cadets? Really? Do I know them?"

Shiro nearly choked while stifling a laugh. "Oh yeah, you know them. The Blue Paladin is Lance McClain. Veronica's little brother."

"You're kidding?! _Him_?" Darvah snorted. "Didn't he make up a nickname for himself? What was it?"

"I think it was the Tailor," Shiro chuckled along with.

"By the Elders, that kid was weird, not bad, but weird. So who else?"

"Well, then the Yellow Lion is piloted by Hunk Garret."

Darvah perked up, "I remember him, I taught a few of his engineering classes. Kid was almost as amazing with machinery as he was in the kitchen. If it wasn't for his motion sickness…wait, how is he piloting a lion?"

"He got over it."

"I always knew he could."

Shiro froze as he was about to take a sip. Lowering it, he looked quizzically at his old crewmate. "Didn't you put him on the centrifuge to try and get him over it?"

Darvah shrugged, "I thought it would help. It's how my people did it."

"IT TOOK THREE WEEKS TO CLEAN!"

"I didn't know it would be that bad!" Darvah defended. Waving his hands, he redirected the conversation, "And the rest of the Paladins?"

Shiro tossed him an accusing glare but sighed in defeat. When it came to Darvah, there was no way to get him to go back to a conversation he was insisting on leaving. "You'll love Green's pilot: it's Katie."

The former-Vandal froze, slowly turning with wide eyes. "Katie…as in, _Katie Holt_. Commander Holt's daughter, _Colleen's_ daughter?!" His eyes got wider as Shiro nodded. "We're gonna die. Commander Holt and Matt will kill us, and then Colleen will pulverize and erase us from existence."

Shiro grimaced. "I don't think it'll be that bad."

Darvah grabbed his shoulders, "SHE WILL KILL US! YOU HEAR ME TAKASHI! WE WILL DIE!"

"She'll be more focused on grounding Katie to kill us," Shiro reassured, purposely forgetting to add the "hopefully" that was still there. And they both knew it.

"I just have to outrun you."

"Thanks."

Darvah took a breath, sitting up straight and slapping his knees. "Ok! Knowing you are the Black Paladin, I'm assuming Jaz is the Red one!"

Shiro shook his head, "Sorry pal. That position goes to Keith…though, while I've been missing he's probably taken over as the Black Paladin."

"The little nukruu's here too?!" Darvah exclaimed. "Elders Shiro! Is there any other child you're forgetting to tell me about?"

"Well, there is Princess Allura," Shiro answered. "She's the daughter of the person who created Voltron, she and her advisor Coran are—as far as we know—the last surviving members of her race. She pilots the Castle of Lions using wormholes, so we can escape quickly and reach destinations faster. Coran is the castle's mechanic, I think…he has a lot of roles. Jaz stays with them using her magic as an extra weapon and shield as Voltron handles most of the other issues."

"Seems like we need to find a way back to them," the Eliskni said and Shiro was certain he was smirking under his mask.

"You're coming with?"

"Hfeflhlh yeah!" Darvah cheered. "You know, as soon as you're fit for travel."

-.-

"Captain. We have a situation," the small blue one, Darvah told him was Vakala, informed.

"What?"

Following behind Darvah, Shiro walked through the curtain he'd been hiding behind for at least two weeks to find a small, but advanced espionage hub. /—planet Thayserix. We expect you here immediately/ was all he heard as the communication finished.

"Thayserix? Where is that?" the big one grumbled gruffly.

"Not far from here," Darvah stated crossing his top to arms as one of the lower ones tapped his chin. "Gar'qu log it on the klygarg. The fleet's coming through our quadrant."

The one-eyed alien groaned, reluctantly shuffling over. "I hate the klygarg. How do I get on again?"

"Enter your password."

"Right…what is that again?"

Darvah slammed his head on the table, muttering things Shiro didn't want or try to translate. "I'm picking up another communication," Vakala informed and the Captain sat up.

"Log this one too."

"I haven't logged the first one!"

"Stop whining! Vak, turn up the volume."

The small alien nodded, turning up the volume then beginning to type to filter out an ambient noise that could distort the message. /We've received orders from Prince Lotor. We are to intercept Voltron/

"It's them!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Vakala, Gar'qu, just so you know, you two are the absolute worst subordinates a guy could ask for," Darvah said hugging them.

"Wait, Captain, why does this sound like you're saying goodbye?"

"Because I am. I told both of you if I found my original crew I was going back, and I have," he clarified. "The rebellion's counting on yout two to keep an eye on their chatter, Elders know they don't need three of us to do it. But," he leveled a hard glare, "if I hear you've eaten anyone, I will come back and kick both of your arhshsfefhs into the next galaxy! Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Good. Come on Shiro, we'll take my ship. I know where Thayserix is, we should get there quickly," Darvah said patting his shoulder. Leading the way to the hangar, Shiro couldn't help but stare at the large, almost ram-shaped ship. "Like it? I stole it off a few pirates a while back, hyperdrive's a little wonky, but she'll get us there. Now don't stand there gawking, we've gottan ship to launch."

Climbing in, Shiro buckled himself in as Darvah took the pilot's seat. If his shoddy memory was anything to go by, his piloting was worse than Hunk's when he first started.

"Ready?" Darvah asked and Shiro nodded, not at all liking the crazy look in his remaining eyes. "Then let's light this candle!"

Blasting off, they rammed through the ice, flying up through the frigid atmosphere. Reaching space, Darvah quickly typed their destination in and everything around them turned into brilliant streaks as they traveled at the speed of light.

"Never been in hyperspace before?"

"No, in the Castle we just travel by wormhole."

The Captain grunted. "Yeah, those are a lot faster, but they just don't hold the same beauty."

The ride coninuted in silence, until they came out from hyperspace that is. Right into the middle of a battle. Weaving through the blasts and various fighters, Shiro was happy to find out Darvah wasn't nearly as bad at flying as he'd previously been.

"I forgot how much fun this was!" he whooped.

"Where are they?" Shiro questioned looking around and checking the scanners.

Taking the wheel with one of his lower arms, Darvah reached up and pressed a button and Galra communications began to flood in. "I installed this so I could avoid them during solo missions!" he stated.

/Voltron has left the battle/

"No," Shiro breathed as his friend turned it off.

"We'll find them Takashi. Don't worry," Darvah reassured, patting his shoulder. The large being then stood up, walking back to a console. With a quick tap, it activated showing a hologram of the universe, or at least the section they were in. "You know where they'd go?"

Shiro was about to shake his head before stopping. During previous missions with Voltron, they left communicators to let planets whom already we liberated call in case the Galra returned. "But I do know where we can reach them!"

"Alrighty then, what's our heading?"

"Olkarion."

-.-

"Ryner, what's wrong?" Allura said as they rushed down from the Castle.

"We got your SOS signal, but…where are the Galra?" Lance questioned looking around.

The Olkari woman smiled. "I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to be an SOS, in fact, there's two people whom I believe would be excited to see you all."

As she stepped aside, they all stared in shock. There safe and sound, was not only Shiro, but Darvah Spydir of the Kerberos crew.


	30. Commanding Conflict

Chapter 30

**A/N: Hey guys, got another chapter here for y'all. Remember I love hearing reviews. Once again, I just own the story.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms/video chats"**

**_Dreams/telepathy/flashbacks_**

/Alright everyone, your sharpshooter's in place. I'll cover you from up—Hey! I had that one!/ Lance protested as Keith leapt out swinging his sword through the nearest sentry.

Using his shield to deflect the incoming fire, Keith vaulted off the wall, and dove for his two oppoents. Stabbing through one then the other.

Looking around, he watched a Lance quickly sniped one off the upper levels, defending Hunk and Darvah as they fired at the open door. "They're still coming!"

"These things are like blasted Thralls!" Darvah hissed, the blasts bouncing off his shield. Another shot rang out and the door closed, crushing one of the sentries under it. "Thanks Lance!"

/No problem Darvah!/

Racing to the main controls, Allura and Keith put up their shields as Hunk stood in between them, firing at the remaining sentries with his cannon, Lance covering from above, and Darvah randomly teleporting around to catch their opponents by surprise.

"You almost got it?!" Hunk called over his shoulder.

"Almost…there!" she said and the light powered down and with it the sentries.

"Nice going short-stack," Darvah said tapping the top of the Green Paladin's helment. Pidge growled and leapt at him in response, but ended up crashing on the cold hard ground as he teleported away with a laugh.

"That's the last base in this quadrant," Hunk sighed.

"Call the Blade of Marmora, let them know this base is clear," Keith ordered.

-.-

"I don't know. The last thing I remember was Zarkon trying to overtake the Black Lion. It told me to use my bayard," Shiro said as he sat on his bed in front of three of his closest friends. "Then, nothing. I woke up on a Galra cruiser."

"Then escaped and nearly crashed into my base," Darvah added dryly before yelping as Jaz elbowed him.

Keith ignored their antics as he contemplated Shiro's words. "Well, you did just unlock the Black Lion's ability to teleport. Maybe that's what it did, in an attempt to save you."

"By teleporting me into the hands of the Galra?"

Jaz stepped forwards. "Zarkon could've forced it in his last moments. He still had a connection to the Black Lion at the time."

"Makes sense to me, I wouldn't put anything past that guy," Darvah agreed.

"Maybe…"

The three glanced between each other. "Well, if you're feeling up to it, the rest of the team would be thrilled to see you up and around again," Keith tried. "They need you."

"Yeah. I'll try."

"Alright man," Darvah nodded patting his shoulder, "we'll be on the bridge." Leaving the room, Jaz and Keith looked at Darvah with raised brows. "What?"

"You told us he was doing fine."

"He was! Well, at least I thought he was," he corrected. "He wasn't like that at my base. But then again, sometimes it just takes time for things to sink in," the Eliksni reached up, tapping his cybernetic eye.

Jaz sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, we can't force him. We'll just need to take this slow. One step at a time."

-.-

They all stood up on the bridge tinkering with various things at their stations. Pidge was running some program, Hunk and Darvah were talking what everyone assumed was mechanics in the Fallen's native language, Lance was playing a game, Allura and Jaz were silently debating something with Coran, and Keith leaned over his controls adjusting a comple of gliches Yorak told him about.

The sound of the door opening caught everyone's attention and all heads turned to see Shiro, dressed in his regular clothes again and cut hair. "Great job everyone. You've really turned the tide of this war. I'm glad you never lost sight of the mission while I was gone."

"You're looking better," Lance greeted. "How're ya feeling?"

"Good, just trying to get rid of this weird headache," he confessed before tossing an accusing glance at Darvah. "And I will not be using one of your people's methods _ever_ again."

"Ugygmhp'h [wimp]!"

"Guys! I think I have something here!" Pidge called and they all gathered around to another of Pidge's TED Talks. "So I downloaded intel from the Galra base we just defeated. I untied the quantum-folded encryption and found something on Lotor."

Keith tensed. "Do you know where he is?"

"Um, not exactly, no. But, the last three sightings of his command ship have been in the Va'Kar quadrant."

"Nice work Pidge," Shiro congratulated. "Although, those quadrants are massive. How will we pinpoint his location?"

"Ok, so according to what you told me, that comet's made from the same material as Voltron and the Vex right?" Darvah questioned from where he lied on the floor.

Hunk was thinking along the same lines. "I already made a way to detect the emission spectrum for Fraunhofer lines!"

The Captain popped up, "And if I input the known Vex locations, we could locate it!"

"But what about the free induction decay those emissions are subject to?" Pidge voiced. "Those are exponential drop offs."

"True, but if you could find a way to amplify the sensors—no, there'd be way too much interference."

"What about the SA magnitude?" Darvah offered.

"The Castle spires!" both the teens exclaimed and the three sprinted off to run their experiment.

"Does anyone know what they just said?" Lance asked pointing after them.

"Let's set a course for the Va'Kar quadrant while they get started on that detector," Shiro said. "We need to work fast. Who knows what Lotor has planned for that comet?"

-.-

"You ok?" Yorak questioned as he hovered over the bed as Keith hung up his jacket. "You seem anxious. Is it Lotor?"

"Well…" Keith began before a knock rapped on his door. "Yeah?"

The door opened and Keith glanced to his bed, watching Yorak dive behind his pillow as Lance walked in. "Hey man. I just wanted to talk with you because…Well, because I've been wondering about something," the current Red Paladin said getting straight to the point.

Raising his brows in surprise, Keith crossed his arms, standing across from his teammate. "Must really be botherin' you if you're coming to talk to me."

"Well, I mean, you're the leader now, right?"

"I guess," he nodded uncertainly.

"I've been doing some math. With Shiro back we have six paladins, but there's only five lions. And if I'm right, that's one paladin too many."

"Solid math."

"Look, when Shiro takes over Black, you're going to want Red back. if I get a lion, then I'd have to take Blue from Allura, and she's progressed a lot faster than any of us did," Lance continued stating the same worries that Keith himself had been harboring. "She might be able to unlock powers we don't even know of."

"True."

Lance looked down for a moment, refusing to meet his eyes. "So, maybe the best thing I can do for the team is step aside."

"What?"

"This isn't a participation game. This is war. And you want your best soldiers on the front lines."

Keith sighed, "Look, stop worrying about who flies what and just focus on your missions. I know things will work themselves out."

Lance pressed his lips like he wanted to argue some more, but instead he just gave a nod. "Ok. Thanks."

As he turned to leave, Keith called out to him. "And Lance, leave the math to Pidge." The Blue Paladin smiled as the doors closed, and thus hadn't seen the frown that settled on Keith's face.

"So that's what you're worried about," Yorak said flying up. "What're you planning on doing?"

Keith glanced at the ground. "Lance has a point: Allura has progressed much faster than any of us did when we first started."

"So Allura stay's in Blue."

"Hunk and Pidge are the only matches we have for Yellow and Green."

"So they can't go either. That leaves either: Shiro, Lance, or you."

Keith nodded as he started to pace. "Shiro is the leader of this team, Black is his lion. I knew taking this position would be a temporary gig. And Lance…" Keith sighed, "he and Red are getting along far better than I could've hoped. And while he may not see it, he holds a little more value to the team. We don't have many distance attackers, Lance and Hunk are the only ones who don't participate in close combat. They need that cover."

The small ghost's shell spinned, "You've already thought about this, haven't you?"

"Guardians are always meant to be expendable," he spoke quietly crossing his arms. "It's time I stepped down from Voltron."

-.-

"Thanks for hooking us into the system," Hunk said as he watched the mice connect wires, "we never would've been able to reach back there."

"These mice are quite handy," Darvah remarked before blinking as they made several squeaks as they came out.

"Sorry," Hunk apologized, "I know you got all dirty. I owe you guys a little mouse shower ok? I get to work on that right after we find Lotor."

"Hey! Can we fire this up and see if it works?!"

"Will it explode?" Jaz questioned from where she leaned against the wall supervising.

"I certainly hope not," Darvah said pressing the button.

Nothing happened.

The two engineers shared as look before they both began rapidly pressing the button. "Maybe we didn't adjust the polarity correctly?"

"No way, we calculated it three times," Darvah growled. "Work!" Skamming his robotic fist into the console, the system powered up. "Huh? So, it's one of those you have to hit. Noted."

"Guys! We found the comet! But it's booking away from us," Hunk called.

Jaz strode forwards, "Allura, I'll take command of the helm until you arrive."

**"Understood. We're on our way."**

**-.-**

"We're gaining on it," Hunk said.

"Make sure we stay far enough back so we aren't detected," Shiro ordered.

"I'm working on a cloaking program that should help," Darvah said from his spot beside Jaz and Coran, "Jaz, can you scramble our signal through various frequencies?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

"It looks like the signal stopped in the Ulippa system," Pidge said. "Activating long-range scanners."

Zooming in on a Galra base, the found a warship, but no Lotor. "Where is he?" Keith growled, getting to his feet.

"But the comet's in there."

"Ok team, we need to—/Here's the plan—," Shiro and Keith started before stopping and looking at each other.

Keith was the one to step down. "Sorry Shiro, go ahead."

The elder nodded in gratitude, "We need to get that comet. They must be transporting it into that base. It'll be most vulnerable during the transfer. That'll be the best time to strike."

Those plans had to be revised as they watched the Galra warship open fire on the base.

"Who the heck are these guys?"

"I don't think they're moving the comet to that base."

"Really?" Jaz grumbled. "What gave it away?"

Shiro tossed an annoyed glance at the Awoken woman, "We need more information."

Keith nodded in agreement. "You're right. You take the Black Lion, I'll stay with the others here in the Castle. If you guys need back-up, Jaz, Darvah and I will come down."

Shiro looked surprised, but Keith couldn't help but notice the glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Keith, are you sure?"

"Positive."

As they went down, Jaz stepped up beside her friend. "What are you doing?"

"What's necessary," Keith replied watching the lions launch. Where was Black?

As if reading his mind, Darvah sounded off, sounding rather confused, "The Black Lion is still in it's hangar."

/Shiro where are you?/ Lance called. /We need you out here/

"Something's wrong."

/Keith/ Shiro called, /I'm going to need you to lead this mission/

"What? What is it? What's wrong?"

/The Black Lion isn't responding to me. It looks you're its true paladin now/ Shiro replied. And no one missed the strain in his voice.

"I'm coming down," Keith said rushing out the doors.

-.-

The lions landed on the ground, deposting the paladins as the soared out in their speeders.

/The most important thing in this mission is to get eyes on that comet/ Shiro informed. /Second is figuring out who we're dealing with/

/It's most likely Lotor and his men/ Jaz added, /as far as we know, they're the only ones aware of the comet, so keep an eye out. Pidge, make sure to send a distress signal if you need back-up/

/Roger that!/ Pidge replied. /Is Darvah planning to bring those new weapons he was developing/

/Hopefully, I can't guarantee they'll work right yet/

"Everyone, focus," Keith interrupted. "We're coming up to the base. We'll ditch the bikes behind that outcropping there."

The next step of the plan was the hard part.

"Shiro, we just boarded the ship," Keith informed as they crouched down, peeking around the corner for any patrols, "There's no crew in sight. We're moving forwards with the search."

Lance blasted the controls to the door, and they ran inside as it opened. Each paladin raising they're bayard in preparation for an attack as Hunk calmly walked forwards, scanner in hand as he loocted at the junction. After a moment, he started leading the way down the right path. "It's this way."

Walking down the hall, Keith realized something was missing. Where was the fire? "Sounds like the fight's over, we need to hurry," he ordered and they began moving faster.

-.-

"What the…?" Darvah trailed off as they watched the roof open revealing a large object. He began typing and Coran's eyes widened.

"The teludav?!"

"You mean the one from our battle with Zarkon? I thought we blew it up?" Jaz exclaimed.

"So did I," Coran agreed. "What, in the name of King Groggery the Infirm, is going on?!"

"Nothing good," Shiro growled. "Darvah, any of your weapons have the range to reach that?"

"Not currently. And if we use the Castle's weapons, we risk blowing up the paladins."

"My magic would have the same effect," Jaz answered as Shiro looked to her.

"Then we better come up with a plan."

-.-

The beeping of Hunk's scanner grew louder as they walked into the hangar. "The comet should be here," Hunk said standing in front of a ship, "as in right here."

"Where is it then? In the ship?"

Hunk glanced at his scanner again. "No. I think it _is_ the ship."

"It can't be," Allura gasped, "he's already made a ship from the comet's ore?"

"This is bad."

"More like horrible."

/Guys/ Shiro called. /There's a piece of the teludav inside the Galra base/

"The one we used to wormhole Zarkon's ship?" Lance questioned.

"But they'd never be able to operate it without and Altean," Allura frowned.

/Haggar/ Jaz hissed as Allura's eyes widened.

"I remember that witch! She had Altean markings!"

"Is anyone else freaking out?" Hunk asked.

Lance raised his hand. "Yep. Mark me down for one freak-out."

Keith looked at the ship. "Lotor wouldn't let this ship out of his sight; he has to be nearby. We need to find him and take him out for good."

/You cannot let Lotor get that ship. Go back to your lions. You need Voltron/ Shiro ordered.

"Why should we take out one ship when we can end all of this by getting rid of Lotor?  
Keith countered. "This will just happen again if we let him go. We can't let him keep outsmarting us."

/That's exactly why we can't let him have that ship. This is too important!/

"Keith," Allura spoke up, "I want to stop Lotor just as badly as you do, but Shiro has a point."

Keith sighed, "Fine. You guys go back to the lions. I'll search the ship for Lotor."

/Keith. You need to stick together/

"I'm with Shiro on this one," Lance said.

"As am I."

"Me too."

"Yeah, man."

Gritting his teeth, Keith debated on going anyways. It would be more efficient to eliminate Lotor then and there while the others handled the ship. If he went alone, he could switch armors and Lotor wouldn't even know what hit him.

The only thing that stopped him was the thought of seeing the disappointed look on his brother's face. it was clear Shiro wasn't sure how to handle being sidelined suddenly after Black's harsh rejection. He didn't need Keith galavanting off and disregarding orders. Shiro was trying to do what was best for the team. Keith was just being selfish as usual.

"Fine. Let's go."

Turning around, they raced through the halls. Coming upon the door leading to the exit. They slowed to a stop as it opened, revealing four female Galra, Lotor's generals.

The biggest one moved first, launching herself into the air. As she came falling down, Allura was forced to jump out of the way, otherwise be crushed as her fist impacted the ground causing a layer of dust tp rise. Emerging from the dark cloud, the one with the tail knocked Pidge off her feet, before jumping at Hunk.

Lance was currently in a firefight with one. She leapt out of the way of one of his shots. As she rolled to her feet, Keith charged, his sword vibrating as it met the steel of her gun. Looking over her Keith felt a flash of familiarity, it was _her_, the Galra from the weblum.

Something hit his blade and an explosion knocked him back as a red general with a long ponytail-looking thing jumped in. She hurled something else at him and it was knocked out of the air by a blaster shot.

"I've got ya buddy!" Lance called and Keith smirked. Seems like those little competitions they had going with Jaz were finally paying off.

The weblum general raced around him, and Keith barely saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye before raising his fist and deflecting a punch from her. She grabbed his arm, practically wrapping herslf around it and twisting, sending him flying to the ground with her on top holding his sword arm in a compromising position. If he moved it, the limb would break. And from previous experiences, it was an experience he'd rather avoid.

Good thing he was ambidextrous.

His bayard teleported to his free hand, and Keith got the personal pleasure of knocking that smirk off her face.

"We don't have time for this," he growled, grabbing her braid-thing and swinging her over his head into the big one that just hurled Allura, "we have to get to the lions!"

"Agreed," Lance yelped as he landed from where the weblum general tossed him.

Turning around, they left the battle for another day. The group sprinted to their speeders, leaping in to drive back to the lions.

/Seriously, what's going on? Who were they?/ Lance questioned.

"I met one of them before, in the weblum," Keith confessed and Hunk made a sound of recognition.

/The one who stole the scaultrite?!/

"Same one."

/But wait, here's where I'm worried/ Hunk started, /Allura said they had an Altean. Do you think that's why they have the teludav? So they can make wormholes?/

/If Lotor's turned that comet into a ship we have much bigger concerns/

/I thought Lotor took over for Zarkon? Why is he attacking a Galra base?/

"I don't know. But that's precisely why we need to stop him here and now."

-.-

"We need to stop that ship," Shiro said as they watched the warship start pulling the teludav in with a tractor beam.

"The team's out of range," Darvah said.

"On it," Jaz nodded stepping forwards. Holding her hands out, she began to form an attack when something whipped by, breaking her concentration. "What was that?"

Coran zoomed it in a small fighter. "That must be the ship made from the comet."

"Then we need to be careful," Shiro said. "Coran, raise the particle barrier. Darvah, fire the Castle defenses. Jaz, be prepared to launch that attack, we can't let them get that teludav."

The weapons began firing, and the Elkisni growled as it kept weaving out of the way. "Quick little bugger isn't it," Coran remarked turning to help Darvah.

"I've never seen something that size move that fast," Shiro commented.

"Hah! Then you've clearly not seen the most brutal space battles," Darvah huffed before the ship rocked as it was hit.

"That blast cut through the particle barrier!"

"Jaz! Forget the teludav! Raise secondary shield!"

Groaning, the energy in front of the Castle began moving, going from a weapon to preading out evenly over the ship. "Tell me where it is so I can redirect most of the energy!"

"Front bow! Down thirty-degrees!"

The shield began glowing brighter and the next blast bounced off. "Team! Hurry your ryems up here!"

-.-

/Target locked!/ Pidge said.

"Fire!" Keith ordered as the ship prepared to fire again. It jerked to the side, dodging a blast as Voltron flew in. "Form sword!" Keith summoned his bayard, slamming it into its hold as Lance did the same. Swinging down at the ship, it zipped to the side, flying away as they gave chase, narrowly avoiding their attacks. "It's too quick!"

/Guys! The cargo ship's escaping with the teludav!/ Shiro reminded.

"I thought taking down the ship made from the comet was the most important priority at the present moment!" Keith snapped.

/We still can't let Lotor get away with the teludav!/

"Shiro's right! We need to destroy it!/ Allura confirmed.

Keith growled, "But the comet's right here! We need to take it down!" he ordered as they continued flying after the smaller ship.

/Keith! The cargo ship is getting away!/

/Keith!/ Jaz called. /You handle space-legs there! I'll get the cargo!/

/We need you to defend the ship!/

/I think it's a little obvious they're preoccupied!/ Jaz snapped. Hearing a blast, Voltron saw a large blast form as the shield melted away firing at the teludav, obliterating it right there. /DUCK!/

/Where?/ Lance questioned before the blast from the small fighter hit Voltron head on and left. There was a grunt, /So…Lotor was attacking the Galra base trying to steal the teludav? None of this makes sense/

/We can talk about this later! They're getting away!/

Keith agreed, "We need to go after them."

/No. Get back to the Castle/ Shiro ordered. /Something strange is going on here and we need to figure it out/

-.-

Keith stood on the observation deck lost in his own thoughts about the mission. How did things go so wrong? When exactly did they go wrong? Was it when he started arguing? The others were all ready to go back to listening to Shiro, he was too, but why say lead a mission when you aren't allowed to really lead it at all? Not if your own team doesn't listen to you.

This was the reason he wanted to step aside. The leadership role wasn't meant for him. It never was.

"Hey," Shiro said quietly stepping into the room, "I'm sorry I had to step in back there."

"I thought I had it under control."

A hand came to rest on his shoulder. "You need to learn to pick your battles. Sometimes you have to make hard choices."

"I'm no good at this."

"Yes, you are." Keith raised an eyebrow and he peered at his brother out of the corner of his eye. "It was your quick thinking that let Jaz have the time needed to destroy the teludav. You're gonna get there. The Black Lion has chosen you, Keith. I'm proud."

For some reason, Keith felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up in alarm.


	31. Left Behind

Chapter 31

**A/N: as usual, the disclaimer: I just own the story and OCs.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms/videochats"**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks/dreams_**

"I can't believe we're stuck here," a Galra soldier complained as they prepared to open the hangar doors, "I mean, this base predates the Zaipirium Siege. It's amazing the equpiment's even still operational."

"We're lucky to have it since the rebels overran the Sigma-3 Quadrant. It's all we have left in this system."

The bay doors opened and part of the warship rose from the waters, opening up and allowing sentries to unload the secret cargo inside.

"We destroyed the Komar. How are the Galra still producing such vast amounts of quintessence?" Kolivan questioned as he, and three other Blades knelt at the edge on an overhang. "Find out where it's coming from and where it's going." Regris gave a small nod, quickly slipping away despite his large frame. It was then Kolivan turned to the comedically small Blade beside him, Keith. "Get a reading. Remember, this is purely intelligence gathering. Do not engage. Antok, with me."

"Iksan daor bona quba [I'm not that bad]," Keith grumbled as he snuck off to do his task.

_"Right, you're worse."_

"Se iksā'r hiif [And you aren't helping]."

_"Hey. It's not my fault you're such a trouble magnet!"_

"Lyłoo ziry [Prove it]," he muttered.

_"Where do you want me to start?"_

Keith elected to ignore that as he rolled to his feet as he reached the ground. Pressing himself against a box, Keith swung his hand and released the ghost. "Emagon ao inhovkuhox lēda se Blade'j nohfekr [Have you integrated with the Blade's network]?" Yorak gave a small bob, and Keith watched warily for any approaching sentries as the ghost began scanning the materials.

/Impossible. It's overloading my monitor/ Kolivan gasped. /I've never seen these kinds of reading before/

/The biggest question is how are they producing it without the Komar?/ Antok questioned.

/That's what we need to find out/

Hearing footsteps approaching, Keith waved his hand. "Jēda naejot jikagon [Time to go]!"

Seeing the sentry turn a corner, Yorak yelped and yanished in a burst of light, drawing the sentry's attention to Keith. As it raised its gun, the young man hurled his knife right through it and into a container in front of another sentry. This one was wise enough to raise the alarms as it buddy collapsed.

/The mission's been compromised! Abort!/ Kolivan ordered. /This is a hard out. We depart in two dobashes/

Grabbing his knife from the wall, Keith cut his way through the incoming sentries quickly. Last time he was late he had to use his either his Holborn Splint to fly back to the Castle. The others didn't know he got left behind, but Kolivan and Antok had been very surprised when he called later.

The resulting scolding that had come once they got over their shock was so not worth it.

Racing onto the ship, Keith rested his hands on his knees as he tried to breathe. When was that last time he ran that fast? He wasn't quite sure. Looking up, he expected to see everyone else ready to go, but he only saw Antok in the pilot's seat and Kolivan standing in the back. "He's not back?"

"He has thirty ticks."

_"I have his location."_

Glancing at the map, Keith looked at the timer now in the upper right corner of his helmet's screen. He could make it. Without a second thought, Keith whirled on his heel and sprinted out into the base, blindly following the arrow. He found Regris, pinned by three sentries with a wound in his side.

Keith whipped out his knife, quickly slicing through their guns and heads. Sheathing the blade, he hoisted his injured teammate onto his shoulders, and began sprinting back to the ship.

When he turned into the hall, the doors had begun closing. Praying to God, Keith jumped, leaping through the door with Regris in tow as the doors sealed shut behind them. They made it. They were alive.

"Will he be alright?" Keith questioned as Kolivan placed a medical pad onto Regris' shoulder and side. They certainly weren't a pod, but the small packs did come pretty darn close.

"You broke protocol."

Scowling, Keith lowered his mask and tossed off his hood so he could glare at Kolivan unimpeded. "I had to."

"You didn't consider something could've happened to you!" he snapped doing the same thing. "That would mean two men down instead of one!"

"I've escaped before!"

The leader of the Blade's eyes narrowed, "Every member of the Blade of Marmora understands that the mission is more important than the individual. This isn't Voltron."

Keith scrunched his nose at that. "I know that," he growled, "in Voltron, we would've gone back to save Regris. I went back to save the mission. Regris had the intel," he pulled out the datacard shoving it towards the man, "getting it and him back were worth the risk."

Walking away from Kolivan, Keith settled into his own corner of the ship. Before the Blades, Keith thought Guardians were bad team players, but at least they understood teamwork and the value of the individual over the mission. Even among immortals it was concerning when one of their own vanished into thin air, many teams refused to leave an area till all members were accounted for. Sure, during missions, the way they kept an eye on each other was no better than the Blades. But blatantly _abandoning _someone, that was an unspoken rule few wanted to break, anyone in the Tower who did such a thing like that was often shamed for several centuries.

How these guys managed to even maintain an alliance with his people still remained a mystery considering their different team dynamics. In the Blades it was "Those who fall behind are left behind" and the Guardians were "Leave no man behind." Complete opposites.

The only reason there probably was an alliance in the first place, was because of his mother and the fact the Guardians had more important threats to worry about than the Galra Empire.

-.-

"Keith, good, you're back," Shiro said as he monitored a live-hologram feed of a current on-going mission. "The team's on a mission. You need to get to your lion and join them immediately."

"I will, but I think we just discovered a new form of quintessence," Keith relayed as Shiro continued to mess with the hologram, "the readings are off the charts. Kolivan says it could be linked to Lotor."

"Ok, we'll discuss it when you return. The team's escorting refugees out of the Fimm System."

Did Shiro just not hear a single word he said? "This is _Lotor_. He hasn't been seen in months. This could be our chance to track him down!"

"I said we'll discuss it later," Shiro repeated tossing an accusing glare out of the corner of his eye, "focus on the mission at hand."

"But—!"

"This isn't a request!" Shiro snapped, turning to face him. "Get to the Fimm System. That's an order."

Flying Black towards the rendezvous point, Keith couldn't help but feel the scalding glares of the others. /Well look who decided to join us/

/Yeah, are you even taking this seriously?/

Keith looked down, guilt and shame churning through his body. "Sorry I'm late."

-.-

"Were you able to speak with Kolivan about the intel?" Keith questioned as he walked up behind Shiro, Darvah, and Jaz.

"We did," Jaz frowned, "and from the sounds of it, we need to handle this as soon as possible."

"But more importantly, Voltron needs a strong leader, Keith," Shiro added tossing the young man a patronizing look.

"I know they do, it should be you."

"Keith we've discussed this before. Besides, we both know the Black Lion has chosen you."

"You've only tried once," he pressed. "You had a connection with Black and I know it's still there. If you just give it another shot—"

"Keith, we all have our part to play," Shiro interrupted. "This is mine now. I've come to terms with that. Now you need to. I support your decision to continue your Marmora training, we all do, but not at the team's expense. They need you to be their leader."

-.-

"Ok everybody," Coran began, "today we're heading to Reiphod, a planet recently liberated from Galra forces."

Keith wrickled his nose, another stupid parade? Really? They were using one of the most powerful weapons in the universe to perform party tricks. Seemed like that time could be more focused on more important things like, freeing planets, eliminating Galra bases, or even better, tracking down Lotor and the source of the new quintessence! "This is ridiculous. We're basically the grand marshal of a parade."

"Not a parade," Coran corrected, "a show of arms!"

"Whatever it is, this is the second one we've done this week," Pidge grumbled.

"I know it's not exactly battling the Galra, but believe it or not, this helps us boost morale and strengthen alliances."

"Right, right, strongholds, blah-dy, blah-dy, blah," Lance drawled. "Now I say we go over the choreography one more time. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time, Hunk."

Hunk shrunk in on himself, "I thought my lion had more room."

The screen beeped and Kolivan appeared on the screen. **"Shiro, my apologies for interrupting, but this is an urgent matter. A Galra supply ship has been spotted passing through Quadrant: Omega-Raylar-Six."**

"What's it doing so far from normal supply routes?"

**"We can't be certain, but taken together with the fact that Lotor hasn't been seen in some time and the emergence of this new quintessence, we feel compelled to investigate. Normally we'd wait for better intel, but I believe we should act on this now."**

"I'll send Voltron to intercept."

**"And infiltration mission makes more sense. We can plant a tracker and see just how far the supply route extends. With all the Galra activity as of late, my agents are spread thin."**

Thank the Traveler. "Not anymore, I'm in," Keith spoke up.

"What?" Lance exclaimed, "We can't razzle-dazzle the crowd with just four lions."

Keith rolled his eyes, "This mission is more important than a show of arms. In case you forgot we're at _war._ We don't have time to do fancy shows."

"I'm with Keith," Jaz agreed. "Tracking this quintessence is more important to what we're trying to do. if we let the Galra get their hands on this stuff, then who's to tell what could happen?"

"Agreed," Darvah said crossing his arms, "I personally don't want to give them the time to develop any new weapons with it."

Shiro sighed, "How long will it take?"

**"Not long, but we must act fast, or we risk the ship jumping to hyperspace."**

"Go. Meet us on Reiphod when you've finished."

"Can we go too?" Jaz questioned as she and Darvah raised their hands.

"No."

-.-

The ramp of the ship opened and Keith was the first to jump out as Kolivan and Regris followed, Antok staying inside to fly the ship. /Triangulate positions around the ship/

With a final burst, Keith's jetpack detatched and he flipped, activating the magnetic soles of his boots as he landed on the side of the ship as Kolivan and Regris flew towards their spots. Reaching for his belt, he pulled out a small device, setting it down on the side of the hull.

"Not detecting any biorythums."

/Could be a crew of sentries. Let's go in and find out/

Getting inside, Keith couldn't help but stop as he gazed at his surroundings. The Galra so far had struck him as a fairly quiet race, but where was the noise? Sentries moving, systems running, something; instead it was eerily silent through the entire length of the hall he began to run down, the only sound being the near-silent echoes of his own feet.

In fact, he made the rendezvous without running into _anything_.

"I completed the sentry scan. There are none on board," Regris informed.

"The whole place is empty. Have you seen this before?"

Kolivan remained silent for a moment, "Something isn't right here. We should leave."

While his gut agreed, Keith still protested. "We came all this way. We should at least plant the tracker and find out where the ship ends up."

"Let's make it quick."

They made their way to the bridge, still not running into anything aboard the seemingly ghost ship. Even when the doors opened, no one was there flying it.

"I'll check the logs."

"Planting the tracker," Keith said removing a panel from the wall.

Then the alarms went off and the door locked itself. "I'm locked out of the system."

Keith's attention, however, was more concentraited on the coutdown. "It's rigged to blow!"

"This ship's a decoy! Everyone out!" Kolivan ordered.

Keith wasted no time joining Kolivan in his efforts to pry the door open as Regris began typing. "Attempting to override."

Not even bothering to restrain his strength as he shoved it open, his hands making divots in the metal frame. "There's no time! Come on!"

"Just a few more ticks."

Moving to grab him, Keith grunted as someone grabbed him by the back of his suit and started dragging him down the hall. Away from Regris. "REGRIS!" Keith called out as everything exploded.

The fire and light faded away, and Keith grunted as he was knocked against a piece of debris. "Hello? Kolivan?"

Static was his only reply. He must've broken his communicator during the explosion. A hissing sound caught his attention and Keith pressed his hand over a tear in his suit. With his free hand, he grabbed his blade, connecting it to a rope and throwing it. It embedded itself in the large metal panel he just collided with, and he grabbed onto the rope, pulling himself closer. "Yorak? Do I have any sealant?"

_"Uh…no, but we do have a clothes-pin."_

It would have to do. Summoning it from his substorage, Keith crudely pinned the torn area shut. It should last long enouh for him to get back to the ship. His ghost appeared beside him and Keith looked at him. "What are you doing out?"

"I'm taking you to the ship. Grab on!"

"Can you even carry me?"

"We're in the void of space. You literally weigh nothing," Yorak said nudging his way under his hand. "For once, I get to save you!"

"Actually—whoa!" Keith yelped holding on as Yorak began flying, dragging the Guardian behind as they made their way to the ship. As they got closer, the ghost vanished, leaving Keith to go hurtling into the ship as the doors closed. Grunting as he slammed into the wall, he gasped for air, relieved when his lungs started to get a fresh supply. It was only when his breathing started to stabilize he saw Kolivan and Antok looking down at him.

-.-

Keith made a mission of avoiding the others when he got back. He missed another show of arms and they all would no doubt be angry at him again, or well, as they normally were now a days. Walking to his room, he stopped cold in his tracks as Allura stood waiting for him.

"I know you're mad, but I'm not in the mood for a lecture," he stated removing the hood.

"It's not that," she said. "I just wanted to say sorry. I heard what happened on your mission."

Keith glanced down thinking of Regris. During his work with the Blades, they had been getting quite close. Keith would've almost been able to say they were friends. Regris had only been a few years older than him, and they'd been on teams together ever since he started missions and had since then been pulling each other out of deadly situations. Only this time, Regris didn't make it back.

It was his choice to plant the tracker, his choice to stay on the ship even though his gut screamed at him to leave. Because of Keith, Regris would never make it home, never see the end of the war.

"Thanks."

Allura stood straight. Here comes the lecture. "I know how important the work you've been doing with the Blades is. They're incredible allies and have been instrumental in our victories over the Galra. And while the news of a new quintessence supply line is deeply troubling, I cannot help but feel—"

"I said I didn't want a lecture," he interrupted.

Allura sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Keith, since our battle with Zarkon, we've been able to bolster our forces by uniting those previously ruled by the Galra under a common symbol, Voltron. It's so much more than a weapon. It's become a symbol of freedom and hope for the opporessed to rally around. I suppose what I'm trying to say is, the Blade of Marmora can go on without you. They have for thousands of years. Voltron cannot. We cannot."

As she walked away, he quietly whispered to himself, "Then why does it feel like you have."

-.-

"Keith? Where are you going?" Jaz asked as she stepped behind him.

"Mission."

"I thought Voltron was helping refugees today?"

"They have it covered. This mission is more important, if done right, we can find the next route in the quintessence supply chain."

Jaz frowned, glancing down. "Are you ok?"

No, he wasn't, how could he be? Regris died, so did Ilya, and Wyn, and Tarn, and so many others; and he couldn't do a quiznaking thing to stop it. Guardians were protectors and he was failing. He was a disgrace upon his people, his faction, his own family. Voltron didn't want him around, that much was becoming clear. While he was still obsessing over Lotor they moved to start doing the real work, helping refugees, being humanitarians, creating alliances; things real heroes were supposed to do.

It wasn't like the Blade was being any more welcoming. Few people talked and made personal connections due to reasons like Regris. It was a cold and isolating environment. But it would be better for him; no connections, no ties. If needed, he could disappear and no one would bat an eye. It happened all the time.

Besides, it wasn't like Voltron's attitude should have been a surprise to him. It always happened, they had started moving on without him, like everyone else always would eventually when they finished with him.

His time with Voltron had run its course. Keith needed to move on.

So, then why did it hurt so much?

"I'm fine," he lied. "I better go. I have a mission."

"Come back safe."

-.-

Even though he had been expecting it, all of his family glaring daggers into him still made his heart clench. "Guys, I…" he trailed off, the guilt building as their accusing gazes met his own, "I heard what happened. Sorry I wasn't there to help."

"You keep saying you're sorry, but your actions say otherwise!" Allura snapped. Do you realize that your absence put the team in jeopardy?!"

"Not just the team, the refugees as well," Lance added.

"As a matter of fact, the entire quadrant was in danger," Pidge continued, "and you weren't there!"

Keith looked at the floor in shame. "This isn't the way I wanted this to happen, but if there's a bright side to any of this, is that my absence allowed Shiro to reconnect to the Black Lion. He can be the leader I was unable to be. The leader Voltron deserves. I'm not meant to pilot the Black Lion, I never was. It was just a fluke I ended up in the seat."

"Is that why you've been pulling away from everyone?" Darvah questioned.

"Yeah, suppose that's part of it."

Jaz's brows scrunched together, "Part? What's the rest?"

"The Blades are making real headway tracking the source of this new quintessence. They've been able to piece together a whole network of hidden supply lines that've been secretly transporting it for who knows how long. And there's good reason to believe it could lead us directly to Lotor," he informed. "A mission is currently being planned to infiltrate the line. I don't know how long it will take, but if there's a chance we—I have to take it. I need to be on that mission." Looking up, Keith tensed slightly as they all looked at him. "Shiro, you're the rightful leader of this team. You proved it today by reconnecting with Black. It was always meant to be yours."

Shiro stepped forwards, and Keith braced himself for the shouting match coming his way. "Keith," Shiro said settling a hand on his shoulder, "if this is what you feel is right, then we won't try to stop you. Just know we're here for you whenever you need us."

That was not what he had been expecting, but, nonetheless, it was relieving to hear. "I know. And I can't say how much that means to me," he smiled taking Shiro's arm as they hugged.

"I CAN'T BE LEFT OUT OF THIS!" Hunk wailed practically jumping on Shiro.

"WHAT AM I CHOPPED LIVER?!" Jaz accused as she hugged Keith the others rushing to join in, Darvah nearly tackling everyone to the ground in the process.

Keith found himself nestled firmly in the middle of his family sobbing and smiling around him. This would be a moment he would treasure for centuries to come, of that, he had no doubt.

"We're really gonna miss you," Pidge sniffled, squeezing his waised tighter as she buried her head in his side.

"Yeah, who am I gonna make fun of?" Lance joked.

"If you don't come and visit ya nukruu, I'll drag you back here myself," Darvah threatened, squeezing tighter.

"I know you'll make us proud," Allura smiled.

"Do you have to go?" Hunk questioned. "I mean, you could stay here between missions."

Pulling himself out slowly, he gave them an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, but it can't work that way."

"Then you better visit or I'll help Darvah drag out back," Jaz choked.

Tossing them one last smile, he turned and left, refusing to let them to see his tears. Keith Kogane's days with Voltron were over.


	32. Web of Lies

Chapter 32

**A/N: alright everyone! I'm back! So, was last chapter fun or what? Now, who's ready for the next one? As always: I just own the story and OCs, VLD & Destiny don't belong to me.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms/videochats"**

**_Dreams/flashbacks/telepathy_**

**"Pidge, I don't like the idea of you going alone," **Shiro tried again, **"You sure you don't need backup?"**

"Why would she need backup?" Darvah said leaning over her seat. "She's got me."

**"That's what he's worried about,"** Jaz interjected teasingly and the Eliksni made an annoyed sound behind her.

"The information I got from that shopkeeper's led me to believe they could pull out of their current location at any time. I need to act fast. This may be my only chance. Plus you guys still have plenty to do on Olkarion."

**"You're right. Good luck."**

**"Hey, while you two are out could you get me more fluuto beans?"** Hunk called.

"What do we look like? A delivery service?"

**"No, no, no! No more beans for Hunk!"**

"Gotta go," she smiled hanging up as the arguing began. "Welp, that was interesting."

"Never gets tiring with you guys does it?"

"No. So what do you know about this area we're heading?" she asked.

"It's on a popular vacation planet," Darvah informed, "a lot of high-rankers go there when the Empire gives out their vacation days. Fortunately, it has a thriving black market. It's were my rebel group managed to procure and transport supplies and intel from the network of spies we have in the area as workers. You'd be surprised by the secrets an officer will tell when they're flirting."

"Is that the voice of experience?"

"Would you be surprised if I said yes?"

-.-

"So we're heading to one of these hidden bases?" Pidge questioned as they started walking into some more questionable alleys and streets. The black cloak he lent he from his collection practically swallowing her, fortunately, most eyes were on the massive frame of Darvah. He reached about seven-feet in height, four arms—one robotic just like Shiro's, except modified with extra weapons she would not want to be at the other end of—was covered head-to-toe in silver and blue armor, a dark blue cape with a white spider on the back fell down from the spiked shoulder and neck armor holding spines long enough to impale someone. There was also the little detail that he had two electrified longswords, and a massive blaster.

"Not exactly, he's a black-market vendor, in that building there," he said striding forwards, leading the way. They walked through the maze of shelves, coming out where a shirtless Unilu leaned back in a chair.

"Shop's closed."

"Sorry, we're just lookin' for a show, supposed to be _explosive_," Darvah said leaning against the table.

"So you're the one looking for the nano-thermite titanium-boron? Very expensive. And difficult to procure, I assure you."

"Money's no object for me," Darvah replied, "and I'll even pay you a little extra for some intel my partner here's procured."

Pidge stepped forwards, opening the file. "Tell me who's in this video and where to find them."

"Why would I know them?"

"Because, they used nano-thermite titanium-boron, and in this little slice of the universe, you're the only vendor," Darvah shrugged as his two lower arms started passing a large amount of money back and forth between his hands.

"I happen to make a living selling high-end products," the Unilu said standing up pulling out two swords. "And I think the Galra would pay a lot to know how you got your hands on that security footage."

The vendor froze as an electrified sword stopped inches from his own _metal_ blades. "Do you really want to do this the hard way against _me_," Darvah challenged. Twictching his blade, the Unilu yelp, dropping his swords as he was backed into a corner. "Pidge, search his systems."

"Who—Who do you think you are?"

"Oh me?" Darvah asked innocently tugging on his cloak. "I'll give you a hint, The Spider."

Pidge glanced back to ask what that meant only to stop, the Unilu looked _horrified_, enough so he actually wet himself where he stood.

"Tfeflhlh arnhyrohnhfef ufef ufefe'rfef hfefe'rfef, arnhd'h yrohsus'lhlh nhfefvhfefe'r lhgygvhfef lhohnhgh fefnhohsusghh t'hoh hsfeflhlh arnhoht'hhfefe'r hgygghh-fefnhd'h p'he'rohd'hsusc'hht'h arghargygnh [Tell anyone we were here, and you'll never live long enough to sell another high-end product again]," Darvah threatened and she felt a chill run up her spine. He wasn't bluffing, that much she knew, he _meant _it. If this guy broke the deal, she would have no doubt he'd be found dead a few days later.

For the first time in her life, Katie Holt actually felt afraid of the Eliksni people.

Leaving the shaking vendor in his corner, Darvah gently tapped her shoulder. "You have everything short-stack?"

"I'm not that short!" she protested.

"When compared to me you are. Ready to go?" he asked.

Glancing at the seller, she looked back at Darvah. "What about his money?"

"Right," his lower-left arm tossed the bag as the other grabbed a box, "thanks for the info and explosives. And remember our little deal now, betraying me will only get you caught in the tangled web we weave. And I doubt you want the spider's bite."

-.-

"So what did you get?"

"Te-osh," Pidge said pulling up the image of the large-eared masked alien, pulling up a still from the video, she smirked, "and it's a positive ID. Typing in last known location…we're heading for Kraydah's moon."

Darvah perked up, "Kreydah's moon, there's a rebel base there."

"Inputing destination now," she replied setting the navigation coordinates. Taking the controls again, Pidge squirmed in her seat as questions about Darvah's behavior in the market flew through her head. Seriously, how could the most cuddly, fun-loving, and gentle Eliksni she ever met be that t_errifying._

"Something you wanna say?"

Yelping, she glanced back to see an indecipherable look in his eyes, the robotic one adjusting itself every now and then as he observed her.

"Well?"

"I, uh…why was he so scared of you?"

She heard a sigh, and clinking of armor as he shifted. "Because of my father."

Katie blinked, his…father? Darvah never talked about his family, not once. Not when he and Matt were roomates, not when he brought them on a trip to the Reef, not even family day at the Garrison. "Your…?"

"Yep. He's what you'd call a kingpin, mafia boss, pirate lord, whatever. Basically, he's in charge of The Spider Web, one of the universe's biggest crime syndicates."

Her eyes widened in realization, "That's why you're so familiar with the Black Market."

"Yep, my dad practically owns it. In fact, if you've ever eaten rax berries, you bought from his network."

"What?! I loved those berries!" she exclaimed.

"Yep, turns out they grow in a really hard to reach area, so no one can really farm them. So every season they were in bloom, he'd send debtors up to collect whole ship-fulls and then would sell them."

"So…when you said if he betrayed us…" she trailed off.

"Sorry you had to hear that, squirt. It's the way we work. He would've sold us out otherwise."

"How many people does The Spider Web have out here?"

"Why?"

"Because, if we can use the supply routes—"

"Refugees and supplies could pass safer!" Darvah finished. "I'll see what I can do, I'm not sure how many guys we've got out here. Dad may not be happy though, he could insist on a fee. But, if I talk to him, it should make things easier."

"…Did you ever tell Matt about this?"

"Absolutely not. Elders know he'd use it to smuggle tech, soda, and candy to the Garrison."

Pidge smiled, "So, basically, he'd be your father's new best friend?"

"Pretty much."

-.-

Pidge glanced up at Darvah as he leaned over her seat, as they began to get close to Kreydah's moon. Since their conversation, they had ridden in comfortable silence only broken by the sound of tinkering from the back, giving her time to process the info she just learned. She could hear the faint whirr as his optic adjusted, like he was trying to focus on something.

"What is t_hat_?" With is robotic arm, he pointed out to where she could see flashes. What, from a distance, appeared to be a storm.

Yet, something told her otherwise. "Not sure," she murmured typing on the controls. A hologram of the planet appeared and she tapped the reagion, showing a live feed of the area. "Oh no, it's a Galra attack!"

Pidge heard Darvah fall back and crash into his tools as she put petal to the metal, zipping towards the battle at the rebel base. Diving into the fray, her first job was handling the fighters attacking the gunners down below.

Green's jaws crushed a fighter as they flew above the tarmac. Her lion zoomed in on a figure running towards them. "That must be one of the freedom fighters."

"It's Ozar."

Pidge turned, "You know him?"

"I met him once, briefly, before my mission on that stupid frozen rock. Didn't know he transferred."

"What kind of alien is he? He looks Altean—you know, just blue," she remarked.

"He's an Eddesa. They're Altean decendents, a race of hybrids that became their own species," he informed.

Pidge's eyes widened, this was the first she'd really ever heard of successful hybridization between two different alien species, one that evolved into its own race. Sure there'd been Human-Awoken hybrids, but they haven't really developed into their own distinct species as of yet. It was really a scientific wonder. "One: you so need to tell me more about this! And two: We should tell Allura when we get back!" Pidge added scrambling out of her seat. "Let's go meet him!"

"Greetings. I am Lieutenant Ozar. You must be one of the paladins," the Eddesa said as they descended the ramp.

"Yes, I'm Pidge, this is my partner," she motioned to Darvah.

Ozar turned to the Eliksni holding out his hand, "Captain Darvah, good to see you again."

"Congrats on the promotion," he replied clasping it. "What happened here?"

"We defeated a wave of Galra forces, more are coming, so we're evacuating," he stated, motioning to the long line of people moving supplies into a shuttle, "but now that you're here we might stand a chance. Will the other lions be here soon?"

"I'm sorry, Voltron isn't coming. It's just us," Pidge apologized. "We're looking for Te-Osh. Is she here?"

"Te-Osh is inside the base," Ozar said pointing to the second shuttle at the top of the base. "She's loading up the last of the medical supplies. We were just about to leave, your timing's most fortunate."

"Pidge, you run along and ask her, I'll help down here with the evac."

Nodding, she turned to Ozar, "Thank you."

"So, what weapons are left? Because I think I could create a program to blow up the Galra, or at least distract them long enough for us to get away," was what she heard as she walked away. By God, please don't let Darvah blow himself up, Katie really didn't want to explain that to the others.

Before she could go inside, blasts rocked the base, sending debris flying. "NO!" she screamed, before noticing what was flying towards her. Raising her shield, Katie felt something, wrap around her waist then she felt a jerk.

For a brief moment, she felt weightless and well, for lack of a better term, not solid for a split second before her stomach nearly revolted, causing her to double over the arm holding her.

"They're back!" she heard Ozar exclaim as fighters dove through the clouds.

The medical frieghter began to leave. "Te-Osh!" she groaned, pushing herself out of Darvah's arms as she started running for her lion, stumbling every now and then. "Get to cover!" Pulling out her bayard, she fired it, propelling herself up to Green's mouth before she crashed into her chair as a blast hit her lion.

"You're really, really gonna regret that!" she hissed. Jumping out of the way of another blast, her eyes widened as it hit the ship. "Oh no." Green jumped into the air, snatching up the offending fighter in her jaws before crashing it into the ground below. Turning the lion's head, she gazed down at the group below. "Is everyone ok?"

/For now, thanks to you/ Lt. Ozar replied, /but our ship is damaged. We are stranded and cannot help Te-Osh. Please paladin, you must help her/

"What about you?"

/We know what it means to fight the Galra. The supplies on that ship are more important than our lives/

Pidge didn't believe that for a second. "Darv, can you fix the ship?"

She watched as her friend turned into a blue mist, teleporting right to the smoking engines. /Well…I can get it up in the air, but she ain't gonna fly pretty if I do it fast/

"It'll have to do. Get to work, I'll hold them off!" she ordered flying Green up into the air.

She wasn't sure how long she spent going after fighters as they appeared through the clouds, but she was relieved when the comm finally came, /Pidge, we're ready to go!/

"Coming down!" she replied. Diving down, she had her lion hover above the ground, mouth open. "Get in!" Darvah teleported, and she yelped when he appeared behind her.

-.-

"Te-Osh, I'm a paladin of Voltron, I'm here to help!" Pidge called as she zapped a Galra fighter off the face of the universe.

/Please/ a pained voice moaned /I've been hit/

"Darv, how far can you teleport?"

"Not that far across the vacuum of space."

"Quiznak," she cursed flying after the second fighter. Aiming her tail-cannon, she watched as it aligned with her sights. "Fire!"

A green beam shot out, effortlessly slicing the ship in half. Landing her lion on the medical ship, the duo boarded and raced to the bridge where a figure sat slumped over the controls.

"Are you ok?" she questioned frowning when all she got was a groan in response.

"We need to move her," Darvah said. Slipping his four arms under her, he carefully laid her out on the ground, assessing her injuries as Pidge removed her mask.

"Please, those supplies, they—they're needed immediately," she stuttered through gasping breaths.

"Not without you."

"Pidge," Darvah spoke up looking grim, "it's not good."

She gulped, pressing her lips together. "We're going to get you help."

She coughed again, her gaze focusing for a moment on Pidge. "…Matt?"

Her eyes widened, "He's my brother. We're trying to find him."

She gave a slight smile, "You look just like him. It's the eyes." Coughing again, she reached into a pocket and pulled something out, "here. Every rebel officer has one of these transponders. It's how we find each other in ther field," she gasped, grunting in pain. "He may not have his anymore, but that's his code." Te-Osh looked up at them one last time. "Please…please, get these supplies to my people."

With that final request, her eyes slipped shut and her lungs gave a shuttering breath before she stilled completely. Holding the transponder tightly, Katie could only stare as Darvah checked for vitals, attempting CPR for several minutes before sitting back looking defeated.

As he did that, she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes. Te-Osh was gone, and there was nothing they could do to bring her back.

-.-

/This should be far enough Paladin Pidge/ Ozar said as Green escorted the two ships to an ice planet. /We've alerted the rendezvous party to our arrival. They will be here shortly, thank you for your help. These supplies will save countless lives in our fight against the Galra. I am sending you and the Captain my transponder code. May the Paladins of Voltron always be able to find me, if necessary/

"Thank you," she smiled, nodding.

Turning Green away, they began to fly towards the location the code said was where Matt was. She couldn't help but feel nervous. Te-Osh said she didn't know if Matt still had his code. What if this search was for nothing? What if they didn't find him? Darvah was an officer in the rebellion, and he didn't know Matt was in it too—granted the man volunteered to live on an ice planet for several years so he might not've known. But that didn't stop the worry from lingering.

"So, Katie," Darvah spoke up, pulling the girl out of her memories of her brother and worries if he'd be alright, "you want me to tell you about the Eddesa?"

"Maybe later, when we find Matt," she mumbled still staring at the device.

"You sure half-pint?"

"His signal's getting stronger," she said holding out the transponder. "He must be around here somewhere." Green's scanners zoomed in on a planetoid near a massive crater in the asteroid field covering the planet they were flying over. "No…this…this can't be right."

"Pidge."

"This place," she whispered as she took the controls, flying through the desolate landscape, "it's completely destroyed. But it says he's here."

"Katie."

"There!" she said spotting a structure ahead. Landing the lion she scrambled out, only to see it wasn't a building, but a memorial of some kind.

"Kat," Darvah hissed, grabbing her shoulder. "We should go, this isn't the place."

"But there's something here," she said shrugging him off. Walking towards the stone column, she activated her translator.

**"In honor of the 127,098 brave warriors that stood against tyranny. The quest for freedom is won through sacrifice."**

"No!" she whispered sprinting forwards through the passage.

"KATIE!" Darvah called his footsteps echoing behind hers.

"NO! PLEASE, NO!" she pleaded to any entity that would listen. Katie Holt had never been very religious, but now, with every fiber of her being, she prayed to God that Matt's name wasn't among those the transcription mentioned.

Breaking through to the other side, she froze in her tracks, staring. Hundreds, no, thousands of gravestones stared back at her, each on representing a fallen rebel. Each one holding the possibility of being her big brother.

Without waiting for Darvah, she jumped down, not even bothing to use her jetpack to slow her descent. She couldn't be slowed down. She had to know. Matt wasn't among the graves here, he had to be alive. Her big brother couldn't be gone, leaving her alone in a cold, cruel universe. She couldn't have come this close just to lose him!

As she sprinted memories passed through her mind: family dinners, her brother comforting her after classmates would tease her for her intellect, the brief trip to the Reef she'd gone on with him, family days at the Garrison, birthdays, movie marathons, them secret talking with their father, them secretly communicating while he was at Kerberos. He couldn't be gone.

But instead of running into Matt, Katie stood in front of a grave marker. One that corresponded to his his transponder signal.

**"Matthew Holt. 001005…"** the machine confirmed and she stopped listening as someone grabbed her as her kness gave out.

Katie Holt wailed. The grief and despair of her cries being drowned out by the pouring rain and thunder encompassing the graveyard. She pounded her fists in a mix of grief and rage, desperately wondering why _Matt_ had to be taken. Wondering what he'd done to deserve to die thousands of lightyears from home likely scared and alone.

As she gasped for air, Katie's eyes blinked tears away, and she stared at her brother's name. Then her attention flickered to the numbers beside it, and her choked sobs slowly calmed into trembling gasps. "Wait, Matt's—Matt's birthday is wrong," she wheezed.

Her grief was gone as soon as it hit her. "It's…it's a quantum frequency. It's a message!" she exclaimed shooting to her feet as she grabbed Darvah excitedly. "The code! What's the second encryption item? I have the book!" Pulling out her datapad, she began working quickly. "Adding Dad's and Matt's additions and subtractions…" a set of numbers appeared and a smile split wide on her tear-stained face.

"Coordinates."

"He's alive. DARVAH! MATT'S ALIVE!"

Hopping on the Captain's back, they sparodically teleported back to the lion.

Neither one of them noticing the figure observing them in their excitement.

-.-

"This isn't good," Pidge shuddered as she started at the scanners which slowly started to become full of Galra signals.

"What?"

"Two Galra cruisers and even more nearby." Actvating the stealth drive, the pair sat tense as they fleet through the fleet. It was only once they broke through, a large planetoid caught their attention.

"These are the coordinates," Darvah confirmed as they flew over the crater. "Take us down."

Green slowly drifted down into the hole, her paladin observing the scanners. "There doesn't seem to be anyone or anything here."

"There has to be. Matt wouldn't have left those coordinates without a reason," Darvah grumbled and Pidge was relieved that he was with her. Because if anyone was more determined to find Matt than she was, it was his brother from another mother.

"You think he could've left a clue? Like a scavenger hunt?" she suggested.

"It's something he would do."

"True," she agreed.

They decloaked as Green touched down in a cavern within the planetoid. The lion couldn't go any deeper, the tunnel was too narrow for ships. But just the right size for living things. Pidge dove right in, effortlessly gliding through as Darvah occasionally got stuck until they got to a wider passage. Landing at the bottom, they looked to each other in confusion.

"It's a dead end?" Darvah questioned pulling up a screen on his robotic arm—when did he install that? "I don't understand, the coordinates say it should be right here."

Looking down, Katie picked up a rock. Opening her hand, she watched as it drifted right back to the ground. "We're in the right place."

"How do you know?"

"Look," she repeated the process and he floated over, looking curious.

"Gravity. Only way for it to be here is if there was a generator nearby," he said and she started scanning.

"I got a door over here!" Pidge said flying over. It took them less than a minute to hack it, and Darvah stepped back.

"You go in first shorty, I'll give the real siblings some bonding time," he nodded. She turned to the door before freezing as a metal hand squeezed her shoulder. "And if anyone attacks you, give me the signal."

"The signal?" she questioned. They never discussed a signal.

His three remaining crimson eyes held a mischievous glint. "The cry of the deep doo-doo bird."

Katie smiled understanding the reference. "I hate you," she muttered before jumping in. The gravity slowly glided her to the ground. Landing, she looked at the screens in wonder. "This must be a spy facility."

The sound of footsteps rushing towards her barely reached her in time for her to duck. Rolling out of the way, she looked to see a masked, humanoid attacker with a bo-staff running at her.

They rushed her again and Kate ran to a column, using her jetpack, she vaulted over him earning enough time to pull out her bayard. She shot the grapple at them, only they used their staff to wrap it up, and hurl her across the room.

Sitting up with a grunt, her eyes widened as she saw them charging her again. "CA-CAW! CA-CAW!"

Her attacker stopped in his tracks, likely very confused, and Pidge looked up at the sound of metal creaking. "THAT THE CRY OF THE DEEP DOO-DOO BIRD! I MUST FLY!"

There was a blue blurr, a startled cry, and a loud thud through the dust. When it cleared, Pidge found the interesting sight of Darvah sprawled dramatically over the other being below him.

"That was your plan? Throw yourself from space?" she questioned.

"I always wanted to be a living battering ram."

Pidge sighed. How could one being be so smart, yet, so, so stupid?

The other being groaned and Pidge scrambled over to glare at him. "You!" she exclaimed pointing her bayard at him. "What've you done to my brother?!"

"…Pidge?" the other person spoke.

Katie immediately identified that voice. "Matt?" Without further questions, she ripped the helmet off of him and for the first time in she wasn't sure how long, found herself staring at her brother.

He grunted as the massive weight on his back got up, before he yelped as he was yanked to his feet. The siblings threw themselves at each other, hugging each other as tight as they could.

"Oh my gosh. Ever since the Kerberos Mission, they said you were dead, but I knew in my heart you weren't!"

"I can't believe you found me. It doesn't seem possible," Matt said releasing his sister to look at her.

"The thought of you and Dad kept me going, inspired me to do the impossible," she grinned.

"Ok, but seriously, how'd you get this far into space?"

"It's a long story. Any chance you heard of Voltron?"

"Duh."

Katie grinned, standing up a little straighter, "I'm one of the paladins."

"No. No! Seriously?!"

"Seriously Matt, the lion's right outside your little cave," Darvah spoke up and the other member of the Kerberos crew yelped whirling around quickly.

"Darv?" he stared. "You…?"

Matt had the air forced from his lungs as the Eliksni hugged him. "I'm so glad to see you!" he said before punching him. "That's for the graveyard! You made Katie cry!"

The communications officer had the decency to at least look guilty for a minute. "So, wait, she's seriously a Paladin?"

"Yep, Paladin of the Green Lion. She's made all sorts of wicked modifications to it."

Matt nodded, his grin slowly growing wider. "My sister, a paladin of Voltron," Matt picked her up in the air, hugging Katie tightly, "THAT'S SO AWESOME!"

"What a touching reunion."

All three turned to face the univited guest. "Who are you?"

"Who I am is not important. I am here to collect a bounty on your brother Matt. But a Paladin of Voltron, the Green Lion, and the Spider's son? What a day," the hooded figure mused.

"Stand back Matt/Pidge," the siblings spoke.

"Let's just do this together," Darvah grinned activating his robotic arm, "I have a new feature I want to try."

"How much time do you have on your hands?" Matt muttered.

"Let's show this guy what Holts—and honorary Holts—are made of," Pidge grinned.

"Looks to me like you're made of meat, just like everyone else!" the intruder tossed off his cloak, racing towards them with two electric whips. The three dove out of the way—or in Darvah's case teleported—as the lizard's whips hit where they had once been. Using her jetpack, Pidge dove towards him from above. Only she wasn't able to move as the whip moved towards her, hitting, and burning on impact.

"Stay away from my sister!" Matt snarled jumping towards him. His staff hit a shield their attacker made by spinning his whips. Fortunately, he was blasted forwards by Darvah apperating behind him, using his arm.

"You're worth more to me alive, but I'll take something over nothing," he growled and the two coils wrapped around Matt.

Hearing his screams, Pidge got up, firing her grapple at his head. He ducked out of the way, but she merely used the column it hit to pull herself towards his face. Which promptly became acquainted with her feet.

"You'll have to do better than that!" the hunter snarled swinging the whip up before a certain Eliksni teleported in and kicked him in the gut.

"You really should keep up," he teased teleporting away.

The lizard moved to throw his whip again when a staff hit him in the back of the head. "Hi," Matt smiled holding up his hand, Pidge swung down, grabbed it, and yanked him off his feet and into the metal banisters around them.

It didn't take them long to devise a plan. "We need a distraction, though."

"No problem. You guys get the trap ready, leave the distraction to me," the Eliksni grinned. Before they could protest, he teleported away. "YOU HOO! OVER HERE!" The lizard swung his whip and Darvah vanished. "NOPE! OVER HERE!"

"Since when could he teleport?" Matt muttered. But not one to question good luck, he ran to his positon waiting for his que.

Pidge ran across the ground, ripping the panel from the wall and scrambling out of the way. Darvah teleported in front waving his four arms like he was trying to imiate some sort of mating dance, all the while while singing very off-key, "IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL! IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL! IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL! IT'S A SMALL, SMALL WORLD!"

"SHUT UP!" Throwing his whip, Matt grinned as Darv teleported away again in a cackling blue mist. The end got caught in panel and Matt made his move. Running out, he swung towards the unwelcome guest, sliding to his kness last second as an electrified whip sizzled over his head, wrapping itself around one of the pillars. Jamming his pole into the ground, he pulled back and let go. All they needed to do now was watch the fireworks.

The bounty hunter let go and all three punched him in the face, knocking him across the room.

"Good thinking," Pidge panted, "exposing that electric whip to the asteroid's magnetic field."

"You're the one who clearly recognized he was using a direct current and thought about completing the circuit," Matt huffed raising his hand for a high-five.

"Tesla," Darvah cheered tiredly raisng a fist in the air. Standing straight, he caught his breath. "Now that's what I call a family reunion."

Matt chuckled. "Yep, and we've got the coolest little sister in the whole galaxy. Now all we need to do is find Dad…" he trailed off staring at his sister, "You kept my glasses?"

Pidge smiled as she put them on, "Of course I did."


	33. Family Ties

Chapter 33

**A/N: once again, I just own the story, nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**Bold is intercoms/videochats**

**T****_elepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

"That looked like it hurt," Jaz grimaced as several large aliens practically trampled the Altean advisor.

"There you go, right over there. They'll get you sorted out," he muttered standing up.

"Was that the last of them Coran?" Allura questioned.

"Yep. A few hundred souls looking for a new home."

"A few hundred more soldiers in the fight against the Galra," Shiro smiled.

"If they can," Jaz said raising a skeptic brow. The Black Paladin turned to scold her when she was saved by the roar of a lion. "Hey, they're back."

They all ran over, as the Green Lion landed. Lowering her maw, the ramp lowered as Pidge, Darvah, and a taller copy of Pidge walked down the ramp.

Pidge smiled, picking up the mice as they ran to greet her. "Hey everybody, I found…"

"MATT!" Jaz exclaimed tackling the man. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

"Nice to see you too Jaz," he smiled patting her back. "I see you grew your hair out. Looks nice, I like the silver highlight."

"Thought it was time for a change," she smiled. "Come on, let's introduce you to everyone."

"For starters," Darvah said taking the mice with a protest from Pidge, "meet the mice."

"Cute."

Katie grabbed his arm, dragging him over to the group, "Matt, this is Hunk, Lance, and Coran."

"Hi."

"Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure."

"And this is Princess Allura of Altea," Jaz said patting Allura on the shoulder.

Matt's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Whoa."

"It is so wonderful to finally meet you, Matt."

Matt stood gaping like a fish out of water for a moment, "Oh my goodness. You are so beautiful!" he exclaimed before taking her hand in a dramatic gesture, his amber eyes sparkling as he gave a smoulder, "It is my honor to meet you princess."

"Quiznak, Matt got hot," Jaz muttered under her breath and Pidge nearly choked on her laughter as she and Allura stood blushing hotly while Lance glared daggers at the new arrival.

Eventually, Matt's attention turned away from the Princess and his gaze focus on someone behind her. "Shiro?" he breathed walking through as they stepped aside. "It's so good to see you—sir!"

Shiro smiled holding out his hand and pulling Matt into a hug. "Pidge never gave up on finding you."

"Yeah, she can be pretty stubborn sometimes," he chuckled turning to look at his younger sibling as she grinned innocently.

"And I want you to know that all of us will help you find your father," Shiro continued.

"Thanks."

"Matt, this is the Castle of Lions," Pidge said motioning up to the ship.

"Whoa. Nice ship."

"Let me take you on a tour!" she exclaimed dragging her brother off.

"Hope he survives," Jaz snickered.

-.-

"Hey guys," Darvah and Jaz waved as Pidge brought Matt into the lounge.

"And this is the lounge! Where we just hang out!" Pidge continued on throwing herself on a cushion as Matt calmly sat down by them.

"Nice."

"How was the tour?" Darvah questioned.

"So cool."

"Hey Pidge, you know where I can store the explosives we bought?"

"You still have that?!" she exclaimed.

"What explosives?"

"It could be useful."

"You might want to ask Coran, Darv. That stuff's pretty unstable," Pidge winced scooching closer to Jaz and Matt.

"Ugh, fine," he groaned getting up. "I'll be back."

"And you still have to explain that hybridization thing to me!" she called as he left moving past Hunk.

"Hey guys, I made celebratory milkshakes for you two!" Hunk smiled walking in. "Just a little welcome gift to Matt from me and Kaltinecker. No big deal." He set down his tray once he passed them out, plopping beside Jaz on the couch. "Fun fact about Alteans, they don't get brain freeze. Coran and Allura just totally hoovered up their shakes in one slurp. I've never seen anything like it before."

"Curse Alteans and their stupid breain freeze resistance," Jaz grumbled glaring across the room as she held her steaming mug.

"Jaz, I told you not to challenge Lance to that race," Hunk chided.

"I still won didn't I?!"

"You had a brain freeze for half an hour," he deadpanned and she huffed. "So, Matt, what've you been doing since you got busted out of Galra prison?"

"I've been stationed at a listening outpost monitoring Galra radio chatter."

"You serious? Darvah was doing the exact same thing."

Matt chuckled, "I know. He told me. Hard to believe we were in the same rebellion doing the same job and we never encountered each other. I blame it on the fact we escaped at different times from different places."

"Dude, you should totally check out the Galra finder Pidge built. We used it to track down a Galra fleet and save a planet."

"Hunk made the locator that led us to the first Voltron Lion," Pidge countered, "and we just built an upgraded version of it to track Lotor."

"Wow Pidge. Dad would be so proud if he could see what you've done here," Matt smiled.

"Who wouldn't?" Jaz grinned. "Even Darvah's impressed. He said it was better than anything his people have ever done in the course of several million years."

"Really?" Pidge questioned, "I find that surprising since his father runs one of the biggest crime syndicates in the universe."

-.-

"This is a pretty sweet algorithm for locating Galra targets," Matt praised as he looked at the hologram, "within a statistically acceptable margin of error. And I love that you color-coded it, because what are we, animals?"

"Ugh, you two are definitely related," Hunk grumbled as he popped another piece of food in his mouth as Jaz and Darvah arm wrestled nearby.

"Hunk, using the Fraunhofer lines to track Voltron, and then the comet…I mean, that's genius."

"Oh well, yeah. I try," he said moving to pop another piece in his mouth only for it to bounce of his head.

"Real smooth man," Darvah called before yelping as Jaz slammed his arm down.

"I WIN!"

"YOU CHEATED!"

As they argued, Matt continued, "They say Fraunhofer was the greatest glassmaker in Europe and that when he died, he took all of his greatest recipes with him to the grave."

"I want a Fraunhofer glass."

"So stop fighting for a moment and check this out," Matt said smiling as his crewmates stopped mid-scuffle to look at him: Darvah pulling Jaz's hair as she was about to bite his arm. "This has all the revlevant data from my time with the rebels. I think if we plug this info into the setup you guys have here, it might fill in the gaps."

"That would make it almost exactly how it they're moving in real-time," Darvah said his three eyes widening.

"Exactly, it would be the best anti-Galra intelligence mining operation in this or any other reality."

"This one time we went to another reality. It was pretty lame," Hunk remarked.

"No kidding," Jaz grimaced, "that place sucked."

"Wait, you what?" Matt said before pointing to his sister accusingly. "_You_ were in a different reality?"

"No big deal," she snickered snatching the datafile Matt held.

"My little sister…"

"Be proud man, she's got one heck of a future a head of her. Now let's get started on that program," Darvah said patting his shoulder.

-.-

"How much longer?" Jaz huffed from where she sat on the floor.

"I think we've almost got it," Matt said.

"Working out the final bugs now," Darvah muttered as his several arms typed quickly, "and…"

"We got it!" Pidge grinned as it went live.

"This is unbelievable. We're tracking Galra fleet movements practically live."

"I think I know a few tweaks we can make to extend our range."

"Hold on," Matt said walking over to his spot.

"What's up?"

"It's a scrambled message. I've collected hundreds of 'em," Matt informed. "I never crack 'em."

"Let me see," Darvah said stepping over, his robotic eye adjusting every now and then. "Well, whatever it is it's not a message. My eye would translate otherwise."

"I've run them through every decryption I can think of. I've spent days with numbers and a Galra language log."

"Can I have a look?" Pidge asked.

"Knock yourself out," they said waving it to her screen.

Katie frowned staring at it for a minute. "So it's not a common cypher or decryption, and it's not a language code…"

"Maybe it's just numbers?" Hunk offered.

Her eyes widened, "Maybe it's a frequency."

"A quantum signal broadcasting other frequencies to go to?"

"These are too high, more than three-thousand gigahertz. I don't know of any species able to hear that."

"Invert it," Pidge said typing quickly.

"Huh?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "For every wave we receive, there's only partial transmittance right?"

"Oh, right, yeah. So we figure the transmission coefficient…"

"And tune for the frequency of the reflected waves."

/Members of the Seventh…/

"Awesome!"

"Yeah!"

/…eleventh, twelveth, and fourteenth fleet. Assemble to rally point trox-lyte immediately. Engage target at coordinates in next transmission by order of Emperor Zarkon/

"Keith was right," Jaz scowled, "Zarkon's alive."

"Guys, the scanner," Darvah said pointing.

"I've never seen troop mobilization like this," Matt muttered, "Darv?"

"No. The closest was the last battle with Zarkon Voltron had, this is bigger."

"What are they attacking?" Jaz questioned raising a brow.

"That's just it. As far as I can tell, nothing," Pidge muttered. "There's no planets, no rebel ships, no Blade of Marmora bases. Nothing at all."

-.-

"Whoever they're attacking we have to help," Allura stated once they all finished explaining the situation to them all up on the bridge.

"I don't like it," Shiro disagreed. "We should be gathering intelligence, not diving into a fight without knowing why. Especially now we know Zarkon's still alive."

"We could go check it out," Pidge suggested.

Lance raised an eyebrow. "I think they'd probably notice us."

"Not if we're cloaked."

"You have cloaking too? Who are you?" Matt said as his sister grinned.

"I'm not sure it's safe for just the Green Lion," Shiro argued.

"I'm pretty sure I can upgrade Voltron with cloaking. We could all go."

Lance smiled, playfully punching her arm. "Were you just waiting for your big brother to show u[ before you rolled that one out?"

"It's something we've been working on for a while," Darvah defended patting Katie's shoulder. "Only problem is there's a few kinks we still work out."

"One of them being I can't pilot Green and operate the cloaking at the same time," she said smirking at Matt, "but if I had a co-pilot…"

"Absolutely. One-hundred percent, yes."

"Let's get to the lions."

-.-

"We're getting close," Shiro said as they flew towards the converging fleets. "Everyone get ready."

/Matt. Darv. Run the cloaking subroutine/

/Got it. Initializing cloak/

/Just warnin' y'all. Not sure how long this'll last. We need to make this quick/

/Alright/ Allura acknowledged, /let's take a look at who the Galra are attacking/

"Friendly fire?" Jaz questioned leaning over Shiro's seat in shock.

"Seems so," he murmured.

/What the cheese? It's Galra-on-Galra violence, again/

/Geez, these people just do not like each other/

/And I thought my people were bad/

"So are we helping or not?" Jaz questioned.

/Bay doors opening/ Pidge called and two small ships flew out from the ship being attacked. /Whose ships are those?/

/Lotor/ Allura growled.

"Lotor and Zarkon must be fighting for control of the empire."

"Or Zarkon's trying to eliminate his only threat to the throne."

/Guys, those ships are getting awfully close/

Voltron moved out of the way, then the cloak failed. /Uh oh. The trails from Lotor's ship drives messed with our cloaking spectrum/

/Looking for a work-around/

"Too late. Our cover's been blown. We may have to engage," Shiro said and Voltron dove back, weaving between the shots as the Galra ships opened fire. "Jaz, shield! Hunk, use your bayard!"

"Just keep it steady," she growled. Sliding into a firm stance, Jaz began to spread her hands, a narrow light forming in her palms as a larger one formed in front of Voltron. "I'll keep it low till Hunk fires."

/Got it!/ the Yellow Paladin called slamming his bayard in. the massive cannon materialized on Voltron's shoulder, firing off dozens of beams into the incoming fleets.

"We should leave now!" Jaz said raising the shield.

"Right," Shiro agreed turning Voltron around. "Let's get outta here."

/Guys, I'm picking up a transmission/ Darvah called.

"Play it."

After a moment, an image of Zarkon appeared on the screen, only now he seemed to be wearing some sort of helmet over his entire head. **"Attention, citizens of the Galra Empire. From this day forwards, my son, Lotor, is to be regarded as a fugitive criminal of the empire. All citizens are authorized to use deadly force to stop him or any of his soldiers. I repeat, Prince Lotor is an enemy of the state. Engage with extreme prejudice. ****_Kill on sight_****."**

"Well, that sucks," Lance breathed quietly, saying what they were all thinking.

**A/N: alright, so this kinda ended up being a filler chapter more than anything. I did my best, but this wasn't one I felt particularly invested in, so…here we are. As usual, I love hearing reviews and a look forwards to hearing from y'all in the next chapter.**


	34. The Voltron Show

Chapter 34

**A/N: thanks for the reviews people. Glad to hear from y'all. As usual, I just own the story and my OCs, that's it.**

**/comms/**

**Bold is intercoms/videochats**

**_Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

"Good news," Shiro clapped as they started their morning meeting, "there's been an upsurge in planets liberated from Galra control. By the Blade of Marmora and rebel forces. Convincing these planets to join our coalition is priority one."

"Oh! Does that mean more Voltron events?" Coran asked excitedly.

"Yes," Shiro smiled as Jaz groaned, "believe it or not the Voltron show-of-arms goes a long way in inspiring others to join the fight." Tapping a pad, Shiro pulled up a map of the universe, motioning to the green planets. "Those green clusters represent planets, and in some cases, entire star systems that've joined our coalition. Not coincidentally, those are also areas we've personally visited."

"All right! Razzle-dazzle time!" Lance cheered stopping in a dramatic pose. "For the war effort of course."

"Sure," Jaz grumbled rolling her eyes.

"Coran, can you set everything up?"

The advisior began twirling his mustache with a mischievous smile, "I know just where to start."

-.-

/Alright, last column's in place. Now this hospital can service the entire sector/

"And that's only the first step in helping these injured war veterans," Coran commented.

Not liking the meaning behind those words, Jaz's head snapped to look at him. "What else is there?"

"You'll see! Voltron! Come on in! It's time!"

"Time for w_hat_?!" she demanded chasing after.

They ended up gathering into a small room, where Coran stood peeking out part of the time with a small giggle. "Everyone check your wrist devices, I uploaded a script."

"A script?" Jaz said as they all opened their devices.

"What is this?"

"Yeah, there's barely anyone out there," Lance sighed.

"You know not everything has to be a big dramatic show, Lance," Jaz grumbled.

"Says you! I mean, come on, you could stand to put on a show and be pretty for everyone once and a while," he grumbled.

"You saying I'm not pretty?" Jaz hissed raising her fist as the Blue Paladin yelped.

"Uh, no! That—That's not what I meant at all! You're gorgeous, I'm just saying you should flaunt it every now and then," he hastily corrected.

Jaz scoffed, "You sound like Prince Uldren, he always said I needed to act 'lady-like' too. And for the record, say it again, and I will knock you into the next star system."

"All right, all right," Shiro interrupted, standing between them, "that's enough arguing for the time being."

"Anyways," Coran started, "I scaled down the show so we could do it indoors for the patients, you know, to lift their spirits."

Jaz smiled. "That's really sweet Coran, I used to love helping out at hospitals back home," she said, "but, uh…does it really need to be a play?"

"This isn't even factually accurate," Pidge whined.

"This is the _Legend _of Voltron, not the documentary of Voltron. Speaking of which, Allura, you'll be playing Keith and Jaz will be playing Allura."

Both women groaned loudly.

"Word of Keith leaving the team hasn't really spread yet," Coran shrugged, "so I didn't want to confuse anyone. Besides, playing Keith is easy, just act really moody." They both growled and crossed their arms. "There you've both got it, but Jaz, you need to relax. You're Princess Allura. Stand stall, be proper, and don't blow anyone up. Come on! Everyone into position! Just follow the script!"

"I hate this already," Jaz grumbled.

"Ladies and gentle-aliens, bear witness as the Paladins of Voltron attack Zarkon's base to save the helpless Princess Allura!" Coran called and the spotlight turned on Shiro who froze and covered his eyes from the blinding light. "Shiro, psst, that's your cue."

"Uh…" he trailed off looking at his script, "I will save the Princess, even if it means taking on the Galra Empire with my bare hand."

"And you won't have to do it alone, because you'll have me, Hunk," the Yellow Paladin read walking up.

"And me, Pidge."

"And me, Lance!" he said bursting onto stage as the only member of the team seeming to enjoy the performance. "Holds bayard dashingly—oh!" he corrected, whipping out his bayard as he got into a pose.

"And me…Keith," Allura grumbled.

"Thank you team for always being by my side through thick or thin," Shiro said pressing a button for his next lines. "Now come along, together we'll…"

"Defeat Zarkon," they all cheered lamely.

Jaz walked out onto stage, arms crossed, and a scowl planted firmly on her face. "My heroes."

The lights turned on and revealed that at somepoint during the show, a majority of the audience left. "Well that bombed," Hunk muttered.

"Speaking of bombs, we need to get back to doing air shows with explosions and lasers…and bombs!" Lance agreed.

"I was hoping to expand our horizions," Coran sighed as they walked past.

"I mean it could've been better if we had a light show in there, right Hunk?" Shiro chuckled.

"Maybe, I could totally build something like that," he shrugged.

Lance nodded, "I'd be down."

"Too bad we don't have anything we could just release whenever we wanted."

"Not unless you count Jaz," Pidge commented, "she's a walking lightshow."

"Well, I have to keep all eyes on me," she snickered.

"Though I do like the idea of that," Hunk smiled. "I mean if we built something into our armor, we could totally use it as emergency distractions, or signal flares."

"Oh!" Pidge's eyes widened as she leapt onto Hunk's back, "What if we added my lion's cloaking too! For stealth missions!"

"I'm loving it! Let's go!" Hunk said and both the Yellow and Green Paladins raced down the hall whooping with excitement.

"Well that was different," Lance muttered.

"Good idea about the pyrotechnics," Jaz complemented punching Shiro's shoulder playfully, "what gave you the idea?"

Shiro frowned, slowing down slightly in confusion. "…I don't know."

"Well whatever it was, thanks," Lance grinned. "I could totally use that to razzle-dazzle."

"And only you could turn an idea that great into something used for stupidity."

"Well I…hey!"

-.-

"Voltron air show here we come!"

"Hope you booked a larger venue this time," Lance muttered.

The screens turned on and everyone stared in confusion. "Are we on the right planet?" Jaz questioned.

"Yes, I'm sure we are."

"I don't think these are the best conditions for an air show."

**"Well, if it isn't Team Voltron,"** a small mole-looking alien accused as he appeared on the screen, **"a day late and a fertonium short."**

"I'm sorry, is there a problem?" Coran questioned.

**"Is there a problem? Yes! Yes, there is a problem! You were supposed to be here yesterday! It was the one day a year we have clear skies. The other seven-hundred-twenty days are like this!"**

"Oh, I see my mistake. I forgot to calculate for time dilation."

**"Oh, you made a mistake? The entire planet was out of their burrows for Clear-Day just waiting! 'Where's Voltron?' they kept asking."**

Coran raised his hands in defense. "Ok, ok, that's on me."

But the insufferable mole-creature continued, **"I said to them 'Don't worry, they'll show up,' but did you? No! Then everyone starts turning on me! 'YOU SAID THEY'D BE HERE!'"**

The castle rumbled and everyone nearly lost their balance as the floor shook. "What was that?"

Coran began typing and zoomed in on a massive creature near the engines.

**"It's a Swathian Meerakeet. They show up every day of the year, except for one. Guess which day?"**

"We get it."

**"CLEAR DAY!"**

"It's ok, they'll chase any beam of light. I'll get it away while we get out of here," Coran said firing a spotlight off into the distance. Firing up the castle engines they took off, leaving the planet.

-.-

Coran sighed, "I'm really sorry about that."

"Coran, if we're going to expand this coalition in the short amount of time we have, we can't afford these kinds of mistakes," Shiro said.

"That last show was kinda lame I don't know if you're cut out to be managing material—ow!" Lance yelped rubbing the back of his head from where Jaz smacked him.

"Just give me one more chance. I promise to turn this around."

-.-

"It's official," Pidge grumbled. "We've reached rock bottom."

"Yeah…" Shiro drawled looking around the mall, "Coran, I don't know if _this_ is the best place to get our message out to the widest audience."

"Shiro, baby, you're right," Coran said. "And I want what you want, man. But I've had some epiphanies, some ideas, some realizations. What we have to do is broadcast a show across an entire galaxy. We could reach the largest viewership in the history of intergalactic showbiz!"

"Aw yeah!" Lance immediately agreed.

"But, we need to workshop some things before we can take it to the next level. You with me kid?" he asked looking at Pidge.

"You seem…different."

He chuckled, "You mean better. Look, it's my mission to make sure our message really sings." He hopped over to Lance, squeezing his cheek, "Beautiful aliens from here to Vlexlar will know your name," Coran then slid over to Shiro, "and your coalition will put the Galra's army to shame."

"Well it rhymes, so it's gotta be true," Hunk shrugged.

Jaz grabbed Coran's collar, pulling him down to look her in the eye, "Who are you and what have you done to Coran?"

"Jazzy girl, please, relax. I'm just giving you all the run-down of our little show," he said taking her hand and patting it.

Shiro sighed, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder before she could rip Coran's head off, "I guess we'll give it a try."

-.-

"Ok," Coran said clapping his hands together, "we've got the air show down, which is great! But, we need to add a theatrical element to expand. The hospital performance was a disaster, but I think it can work out if you follow my guidelines, guys. Rule number one: never walk onto stage, all right? You must leap onto stage, roll onto stage. I'm talkin' explode onto stage!"

"Yes!" Lance grinned pointing at Coran in instant agreement.

"Oh no! A laser-eyed monster! We need the Paladins of Voltron!" Coran recited giving Jaz a thumbs-up as she reluctantly pressed a button starting the rock music before pulling out her phone and recording.

"Guys will get a kick outta this," she smirked wickedly as Allura and Shiro practically flew out from behind the curtain, sumersaulting onto the stage. Pidge used her jetpack to land by them as Hunk begrudgingly rolled out onto the stage, literally. Lance was the last to exit, landing in the center of this posing formation and stretching his hands out. "Your time's up monster!" he exclaimed as the croud began clapping lightly.

_"Rule number two: don't just say your line. You've gotta shout that line! Remember, louder is better!"_

"KEITH I NEED YOUR HELP!" Lance screamed across the small mall stage as Allura pulled out her bayard.

"I'M ON IT!"

"LOOK OUT! IT'S FIRING ITS LASERS!" Hunk screamed as Jaz began rapidly pressing the button on her console, making the light in the center of the dummy's chest light up wildly.

_"And finally, rule three: strike a pose after every movement. Everyone loves a pose."_

They all took to action, firing their bayards. Pidge's grappled tied the dummy's arms to its sides as two goo blobs smacked the side of its head. Allura's whip sliced the legs from the torso, as Shiro, flying in from above, swung down with his hand, cutting the "villain" in half. Each one of the almost seamlessly slid into a pose at the end.

"Spread the word! The Voltron Coalition needs you!"

"I would like to join the Voltron Coalition!" one blue alien called raising his fist as everyone cheered and applauded the performance.

"At least the crowd stayed until the end," Pidge said as they all walked backstage.

"And at least I didn't have to play Allura," Jaz snickered as the Princess tossed her an annoyed glance.

"And what is so bad about playing me?"

A teasing smile spread across the Awoken woman's face, "Where do you want me to start?"

"That actually went really well," Shiro grinned.

"Yeah, you're trending galaxy-wide!" Coran agreed patting the Black Paladin on the shoulder. "I mean, you're a four-quadrant hit! Your plus-sevens are plus ten! But that's just the beginning!"

-.-

Their next stop was an oddly-shaped planet that, for some reason, reminded everyone of a bean. "This is our first stadium," Coran said practically dancing with excitement. "So let's get out there and really win some hearts and minds today!"

A tall, thin noodle with arms scurried in, "Bi-boh-bi-bi. Bi-boh-bi-boh."

"All right, you heard Bii-Boh-Bi. Five doboshes. Let's go! Places!" Coran said shoving them out the door.

-.-

**"Hello, bii-bohs and boh-biis! Tonight, the Paladins of Voltron take on Zarkon on ice!"** Coran exclaimed as Bii-Boh-Bi translated. **"Oh no! It's Zarkon! And the evil witch Haggar! They have kidnapped Princess Allura!"**

Two Bii-Boh-Bis skated out onto stage, pushing Jaz, wearing a bright pink dress and tiara, ahead of them tied with a rope and gagged. "It it I, the greatest force of evil this universe has ever seen!" the Zarkon actor called out and Jaz looked mildly surprised that it wasn't said in whatever language they spoke.

"Sire, soon you will defeat the paladins, and Voltron will be yours. They cannot resist rescuing our helpless Princess."

"Helfelph!" Jaz's muffled voice snarled as she started struggling, the croud started jeering at the two "villains" of the story, some even demanding they let her go.

"NOT IF I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!" Hunk exclaimed and the crowd cheered as the Yellow Paladin skated out onto the ice, cannon in hand. "Take that Zarkon!" He moved to aim his cannon, and promptly lost his balance, almost doing the splits as he slid between them falling to the ground. The crowd laughed as he slid into a wall and the spotlight landed on Pidge whom stood at the edge of the rink nearby.

**"Look! It's Pidge!"**

"Don't worry Hunk, I got you back!" she called skating out onto the rink.

**"She'll use her math and calculations to defeat Zarkon!" **Coran exclaimed as Bi-Boh-Bi translated.

As Katie skated towards them, the Haggar actor slid forwards, throwing forwards a device at her feet. A cloud of smoke erupted and the Green Paladin slid out a moment later, tied up in pink ribbons.

**"Oh no! The witch's magic has counteracted Pidge's math! What are they going to do?"**

Jaz rolled her eyes as they started playing rock music, the spotlights landing on Shiro, Lance and Allura as they got into position behind them. "We need teamwork!" Shiro announced his voice almost echoing across the arena. "The only way to defeat Zarkon is with Voltron!"

As they slid into their poses, Jaz began trying to undo her restraints. Screw the rescuing the princess plotline, she was gonna save herself.

Of course, her attempts stopped when she saw how they were forming Voltron. Allura and Hunk were on their hands and knees, cheaply made cardboard cutouts of the lion heads on them as Pidge and Lance got on eith side holding their on in their hands, meanwhile, Shiro had to wear a bigger cutout. They slid towards them and the jaws of the red and green lions opened, firing confetti and promptly activating the wires the actors were attached to.

"I'll get you next time!" Zarkon-actor called.

At that moment, Jaz vowed to never let any of them live this situation down. Ever.

-.-

"How many more of these appearances do we have to do?" Pidge questioned once they got backstage.

"I know they seem humiliating—"

"No kidding," Jaz interrupted, "I was just sitting there tied up like a damsel in distress!"

Shiro sighed, continuing with his previous train of thought, "As I was saying, I know you guys aren't the biggest fans of this, but Coran's ideas are working. Every performance draws more people to the cause."

"Exactly," Lance agreed from where he stood by the door signing autographs, "all that stuff."

Coran walked over, herding the girls out, "Ok, alright, we've got business to discuss," he closed the door turning back to face everyone, "First of all. Great job. Tonight was a big success! Now we're back on track and better than ever! There's no doubt about it, you're stars. But to go supernova, you gotta push it even further."

"A supernova is an exploding star," Pidge deadpanned.

"And what could possibly be brighter than that?" Coran remarked practically teleporting to the girl. "Here's the deal. I've worked up very specific personas for each of you. This will help the audience connect on amuch deeper level with each team member. There's Loverboy Lance."

"Loverboy Lance, it's perfect because it's true."

"I'll believe that when you get someone to date you," Jaz remarked and Lance sputtered in indignation.

"You're Science-Wiz Pidge. Whoa! Look out big brain!" Coran hopped over to Allura, "We've got Lone Wolf Keith. That's you 'cause you're Keith. I'm thinking you catchphrase could be like a howl or something."

Allura basically channeled Keith in that moment because her scowl and growl was the exact respoense they all knew he would've given if he were there now.

"That's more of a growl, but we'll work on it. Hunk! From now on, you're Humorous Hunk! And last, but not least, Shiro the Hero!"

"Why don't I get a persona?" Jaz questioned.

"Well you're the Princess, you need to stand there and look pretty!"

-.-

"Remember, you're Humorous Hunk, so be funny," Coran reminded sporting a swollen, black eye.

"Ok…how do I do that?"

Coran raised an eyebrow and pushed him out the curtain, "Don't worry. I've got you covered! Bi-Boh-Bi engage Humorous Hunk."

Racing down the ramp, Hunk barely noticed something being lifted in his path before he was sent tumbling head over heels. Landing on his butt, he didn't have time to process what exactly happened as his bayard landed in front of him. Getting up he bent down to grab it, and the sound of flatulence echoed.

"That—That wasn't me!" he yelped standing straight up, feeling embarrassed. Maybe he shouldn't have eaten that burrito before coming. "I don't know who that was."

As the crowd laughed, Coran slid backstage to see if Jaz was ready for her cue. "Princess Allura, are you—what are you wearing?!"

Jaz smirked as she finished applying her mascara, completing her look. Black leather pants, knee-high silver boots with silver laces and trim, a white corest top with blue accents, and her hair was done up like Princess-turned-General Leia. If she was going to be a Princess, at least she should do it right.

"Well Coran, why be a Princess when you can be a General?" she replied strutting past him and onto stage as the crowd cheered.

-.-

"Coran, I think it would go a long way if I could deliver a speech about how we're trying to unite a front and build a coalition," Shiro proposed as he stood backstage waiting for his part.

"What?! Stop talking! You're Shiro the Hero! Heroes doen't speak! You're a silent ninja."

"What—but—"

"Shh," Coran hushed pressing his finger against the other man's lips. "Zip it. Muscles speak louder than words, right? It's always been my motto. Now, put on this super tight shirt and get out there!" he exclaimed holding up a new shirt as Jaz laughed.

"Ha ha."

"Jaz! I've developed a new act for you! In fact you're all participating!"

"What?!"

-.-

"Guys, the recruitment rallies are amazing. Look at all the green on this map!" Coran exclaimed.

"We certainly had our doubts before," Allura confessed, but I have to admit Coran, your plan is actually working."

"Why thank you Keith—I like to keep you in character—and it's only gonna get better with a few improvements!"

They all glanced between themselves, "More improvements?"

"Please, no more farts," Hunk pleaded.

"Please."

"Hear me out: First, it's time Voltron starts to talk. Everyone's dying to hear what the big guy sounds like."

"He sounds like Kolivan," Jaz deadpanned and everyone looked at her. "What? I can't be the only one whose noticed he looks a lot like him?"

Lance opened his mouth and stopped, blinking for a second, "Wow, she's actually right. I never thought of that. Maybe we could bring him in?"

"I doubt Kolivan would agree," Shiro winced.

"That's great," Coran continued on, "Second: we'll introduce new weapons and outfits for each of you!"

"Coran," Shiro started looking a little tentative, "we only have one more show. After the big intergalactic broadcast, we're done."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED! WE CAN'T STOP NOW! Coran screeched eye eye twitching.

"Uh, Coran…you feeling ok?" Hunk questioned.

"Yeah, you seem extra twitchy," Lance agreed.

"You must realize that we need to get back to fighting Zarkon," Allura added.

"We are fighting Zarkon! Six nights a week and twice on the astral conflux!"

The door opened, "Bi-bi-boh bi-bi-bi bi-boh bi-bi-bi boh-bi-bi."

"I DON'T CARE IF THE NEW LASER SHOW IS HERE! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT WALKIN' IN WHEN I'M TALKIN' TO THE TALENT?!"

"Boh…" the living noodle whimpered walking out.

"Coran, we have to do our next event, but, after that, no more shows," Shiro said.

The advisor's steely gaze slow turned his way and Shiro almost thought the man would attack him for a moment. "You're all a bunch of quitters! QUITTERS! I'M A VISIONARY! I HAVE THOUGHTS, IDEAS! I DON'T NEED YOU ANYWAYS! I'LL REWRITE THE SHOW! GET RID OF THE WHOLE LOT OF YA! REPLACE YOU WITH NEW PALADINS! AND THE SHOW WILL BE BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE!" he ranted walking out the door. The door opened again and they all jumped at how menacing he looked, "Except for you Shiro. I'll never get rid of you. You're our most popular character! BUT THE REST OF YOU WILL NEVER WORK IN SHOW BUSINESS EVER AGAIN!"

"…Why do I feel like we should suddenly worry for our lives?" Jaz questioned as several of the others made agreeing noises.

Lance, however, was more focused on a different aspect. "Wait…Shiro's the most popular character?"

-.-

"All right, remember guys, this is being broadcasted galaxy-wide," Shiro repeated as they stood at the arena entrance. "It's the final piece in our plan."

"So no pressure," Jaz grinned and the Black Paladin rolled his eyes.

"Let's just make our last appearance our best appearance."

"I'm concerned about Coran," Allura voiced looking down.

Hunk scoffed, "He was getting crazy anyways, he'll realize that soon enough."

"Bi-boh bi-boh-bi!"

"Anyone know what Bii-Boh-Bi is saying?" Lance questioned.

"I'm assuming five minutes to curtain," Jaz shrugged. "Now, let's knock their socks off!"

Going out they began their final performance, aming sure to throw extra flare in for the audience, extra poses, extra yelling, extra effects in the fight scenes.

"Did you hear that rumbling?" Shiro questioned as they all gathered in the center.

"According to my thermal calaculations, there's only one thing that can cause a sound like that: a Galra robeast!" Pidge stated and the crowd jeered.

"Zarkon has sent a robeast to try and destroy us and the planet! We'll show him who's going to destroy who!"

"Everyone, we need to form Voltron!" Shiro exclaimed and the area went black.

A few moments later, the lights returned to life and Voltron landed in center stage. **"I am here to defend the universe!"**

Rumbling echoed and the ground shook.

**"What was that?"** Voltron turned to find a beast it wasn't familiar with. Thick armor plating, large ears, bug eyes, and a tawny furred creature stood before them roaring.

/Wow Bii-Boh-Bi has really upped his effects game/ Pidge commented.

The lasers turned on and the beast roared chasing after the lights. /Uh…is that supposed to happen?/ Jaz questioned from where she crouched near the stage entrance ready to provide magic assistance.

It leapt towards the edge of the arena and the crowd screamed before the beast collided with a glowing blue shield as Jaz created a shield to protect them. Meanwhile Voltron raced over, grabbing the tail and flipping it over their shoulder tossing it back into the arena away from the crowd.

The beats opened its mouth and fired a blast that narrowly missed Voltron, blowing up the ground behind it.

/I don't remember rehersing this/

/Who cares they're loving it!/

/Lance, something could go wrong with this one!/ Jaz reminded, /We don't know the attack pattern!/

/Paladins!/ Coran called sounding panicked. /That monster you're fighting onstage is real! I know because I put it there!/

/What?!/

/Coran! What the quiznak?!/

/A brain worm told me to do it!/ he answered. /I'll explain about that bit later/

/So wait, that's not really great special effects?/

/Nope/ Jaz growled creating a shield over the entire arena, separating the audience and Voltron.

/Shield!/ Shiro ordered as the creature's mouth opened again, firing its blast at them.

Red moved forwards, firing back, only for the blast to bounce off. /The lasers aren't working!/

/That thing took a direct hit and we barely did any damage!/

/Jaz, can you see if your magic works!/ Shiro called.

/I'll have to lower the shield to do it/ she informed.

/Do it, we'll cover you/

Nodding, she changed her stance pulling all the energy away from the edge of the arena and towards her. A ball of glowing energy manifested above her head and she hurled it right into the beast. It gave a yowl and smoke blocked their vision, but it still lumbered out, looking a little singed but still very much alive.

/What is that thing made of?!/ Lance exclaimed as they flew back as it pounced.

/I have an idea/ Shiro suggested. /We use the lights from the big screen to lure the monster away from the crowd/

/I've got this!/ Allura stated and Voltron flew up in the air, flipping into a kick. Attaracted by the flashing lights, the creature chased after, leaving the arena.

/Nice job Keith!/

-.-

"I'm so sorry guys," Coran apologized as they all stood on the bridge, dropping the creature back on its own planet. "I shouldn't have trusted that strange Unilu. Looking back it seems like such an obviously bad decision."

"Yeah, worm pills gross," Lance shuddered.

"I didn't mean to take us this far off mission."

"Well, believe it or not, you plan worked," Shiro informed pulling up a map. "Our coalition is bigger than ever."

"What? Really?"

"Yep," Shiro nodded wearing a smirk, "And this is why Drugs Are Bad."

"I officially disown you," Jaz sighed.

**And, just fyi, this chapter I felt kinda ended up being another filler, so I do ask that you bear with me for the time being. I've been swamped with just life in general. I just wanted to let y'all know that my writing may be taking a bit of a backseat so updates may be a little sporadic, but I will still be working on this!**

**Anyways, hope all've y'all have a Merry Christmas! :D**


	35. Naxela

Chapter 35

**A/N: so…I'm back! Glad to see y'all again, thanks for the reviews. Now, for those who are wondering on why it's taking os long to get to the Destiny stuff, I do have an explanation: through watching the series I've figured S4 and after are the best to start merging the timelines. However, I felt I couldn't add new characters without fleshing out the whole series (I made an effort and even debated with a fellow writer about what would likely be the best course of action; if it worked out that way I totally would've done it). So I am really sorry it's taking so long and I do feel like I do owe y'all an explanation. Trust me, the Destony stuff will start to pick up soon, and I hope I can meet y'alls expectations for this story.**

**Once again, just own this story, nothing else is mine, sadly. Now, I feel the need to warn y'all that I know this isn't my best chapter. I had a lot of trouble writing out the fight scenes here, so I figured I'd apologize now.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercoms/ship announcements/Coran shouting into a megaphone you get the gist"**

**_This is telepathy/dreams/flashbacks because I'm too lazy to find another way to differentiate all of these._**

The Paladins gathered on the bridge listening as Kolivan relayed the most recent information gathered on their missions, **"Entire Galra fleets have been mobilized, Zarkon seems to be out looking for Lotor."**

"It's only a matter of time before he gets the empire back in order," Shiro sighed.

"Agreed, we should strike now while he's preoccupied," Jaz affirmed.

Allura turned to look at both of them, "What are you getting at?"

"Now is the time to assemble to coalition Voltron's been building. With intelligence gathered by the blades and coalition observers combined with Pidge's Galra tracking software, we now have a detailed map of the Galra Empire," Shiro replied pulling up a map, one that was almost divided in half between blue and violet.

"In this region, we have a line of coalition planets," Jaz motioned highlighting a line of planets, "only one Galra-occupied planet remains in the way. If we capture Naxela, we will successfully cut off all supply routes to any remaining Galra worlds behind the line."

"Wow, we could take back a third of the Galra Empire in one fell swoop," Pidge admired.

"Do we have a plan?"

"The best option would be to have simultaneous attacks across the region," Shiro said.

"Our first priority should be cutting off Galra communications in the sector. There's a satellite relay station orbiting Vantax-5," Jaz recommended.

"Pidge and I can handle that," Hunk grinned, "or Matt and Darvah, they could do it too."

**"We also have to worry about the two new Galra weapons systems coming online,"** Keith chimed in, typing and pulling up a diagram on the map, **"Zaiforge Cannons. If we really go through with his plan those ****_must_**** be taken out. They're strong enough to hit anything in the combat zone. Our forces would be decimated in minutes."**

"Agreed," Shiro nodded, "The first, orbiting planet Teq, will be attacked by coalition air forces led by Matt, Darvah, and Captain Olia."

**"The blades will lead a strike team against the second cannon located on the surface of Senfama, it is vulnerable to a covert ground attack," **Kolivan volunteered.

"From there we can commandeer the cannons and use them against the Galra Empire," Jaz finished. "Without these weapons, the Galra defenses in our gamefield will be weak, that will be our time to strike and handle all remaining planets behind the Naxela line."

"And while coalition forces are taking control of the planets, Naxela will already be under attack," Shiro continued.

"By who?"

"Voltron."

"Aw yeah! Team Voltron's gonna drop in on Naxela, form Hunk's giant laser cannon and be like 'Pow! Pow! Pow!'" Lance jumped eagerly, "Easy-peasy."

"Not quite," Shiro disagreed. "Naxela will be tough; it's heavily fortified with Galra. Our attack must be swift enough to neutralize their forces before they have time to contact headquarters. Because if they call for reinforcements, we'll be caught in a battle on two fronts."

**"If this works, the Voltron Coalition will possess a third of the Galra Empire's territory. It will be a massive victory,"** Kolivan commented.

"And inspire a whole new wave of rebellions."

**"Just be careful on Naxela, data I collected on my last mission indicates the druids did some heavy-duty rituals there. We're not sure what kind of traps could be set,"** Keith added.

"Understood," Shiro nodded. "We have no time to waste. Paladins, it's time to gather the coalition, friends, and allies. With their help. We'll have a chance to turn the tides of this war. We all knew this moment would come and we're more prepared than we've ever been. Let's do this."

-.-

"Alright Princess, it's time to begin the broadcast," Coran said as Allura stood on the center platform of the bridge.

"Have we secured communications?"

"Yes," Darvah nodded as Matt stood waving awkwardly at Allura, "we used a mix of rebel transponder encryptions and Eliksni code to make sure our transmission will not receive any interference or be interrupted."

"Always helpful to have a group of tech-geniuses around."

Allura nodded, activated the crystal, and turning on the broadcast. "Fellow members of the Voltron Coalition, if you are hearing me now, it is because you have pledged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our fight against Zarkon's enslavement of the free peoples of the universe. But that enslavement is about to be dealt a crushing blow. the time for a full-scale attack on the Galra Empire is now. Far in the future, when they speak of this day, they will speak of our sacrifice, but they will also remember this as the day freedom began to overtake tyranny. You all have your missions. You know what to do. Good luck. We'll see you on the other side."

-.-

/You guys ready for this?/ Olia questioned as the fleet flew towards the Tuq Zaiforge cannon.

/Ready as we'll ever be/

/Darvah how long till you're ready?/

The Eliksni engineer looked up from where he sat tinkering with the bomb in his own ship further back. "Buy me about ten more minutes, it'll be ready."

/And the reinforcements?/

"Waiting for the all clear from you."

/All right then, all ships form up and begin attack/ Olia ordered and the group of ships surged forwards to meet the incoming tide of fighters.

The fighters began chasing after the rebel ships in groups, someof the ship flipped around firing back, others brought the ships towards their comrades who shot the tails, some ships, we caught off guard.

/Darvah! Now!/

"Sfefc'hhohnhd'h uarvhfef! Bfefghgygnh arhshsarsuslht'h! [Second wave! Begin assault!]" he ordered and several ships came out of cloaking, each bearing a mark of the Spider. The pirate ships moved out effortlessly weaving between the fighters and providing aid. Every now and then, some stopped, despositing a ground team to handle the turrets sitting on the drifting asteroids.

/We can't get through those sheilds!/ Olia growled.

/The cannon's powering up!/

That was all they worning they got before a massive blast eradicated over the third of the coalition fleet.

Getting up, Darvah grabbed the bomb and began to load it into the missile. "Someone, get me a clear shot at that shield, it's ready."

-.-

Keith raced through the dense brush as they ran to the Zaiforge cannon with no resistance whatsoever, talk about a lack in security. Darting up the stairs, their first encounter with the enemy was a group of four sentries.

Kolivan moved first, slicing one in half before throwing his sword throw the second as Vrek jumped up and kneed it in the face. Keith whipped out his blade, stabbing one and slicing the head off the other before he raced up the steps.

_"Their security sucks,"_ Yorak muttered as they basically just waltzed into the cannon. Guess a ground assault never really crossed the Galra's minds.

It was basically a straight shot to the bridge, eliminating a few rouge sentries of guards that got in their way. Vrek hurled his blade into the guard talking to the commander and Kolivan tackled him as Keith lunged forwards. Picking up the commander, he hurled him across the room into the other guard, taking over at the controls as Kolivan and Vrek cut them and the rest of the sentries down.

Cracking his knuckles, he took the controls, deactivating his mask with a grin, "Let's see how this thing works."

_"Downloading controls now."_

/Zaiforge cannon secure, commencing attack on Naxela/

"Good luck."

-.-

/Everyone, give Darvah cover so he can get a clear shot!/ Olia ordered as the Eliksni's ship shot through the battle field straight towards the cannon.

His crewmate began typing on a monitor nodding to the Captain when he found what he was looking for. "Fire!"

The nano-thermite titanium-boron missiles fired, flying through space and impacting the Zaiforge shield with a blast large enough even the rebel ships could feel the heat.

"Breach in the Zaiforge Sheild detected," Avrok stated.

/Rebels you heard the man, focus your fire on that breach! Blades! We require an assit to bring down the last of this shield!/

-.-

Keith grit his teeth as he and Yorak worked together to find where in hellmouth they were supposed to aim. The cannon was ready, now he just needed—there! "Here goes nothin'," he grunted pulling back on the controls and shoving them forwards. Hopefully it would hit the cannon like it was supposed to, from Yorak's calculations, it appeared these things were made to hit planets, not tiny objects lightyears away.

/Shields are completely down! Take the cannon!/

He sighed in relief, he hit the cannon and avoided killing any rebels in the process. He'd call that a win. "Ready to provide the Taujeerians with cover."

/Cannon's been commandeered, ready to provide back-up/

/Copy that/ Jaz replied. /Coalition forces, you are clear to begin the blitz/

Pulling back, Keith began recharging the cannon, who knows when it would be needed again.

-.-

Haggar mediated in her summoning circle, hoping that some form of her magic could answer the questions that had only been growing as of late. Where was Lotor? Who was the Guardian? Where was the Guardian?

So far any swift pries she'd made through Project Kuron had yielded nothing. The Yellow Paladin had been difficult to question. He seemed to find it odd her clone seemed to ask if there was anything he was hiding from them. Instead of getting a sign that there was something he was hiding, he just went on about how he missed their home planet and his family. It would be useful for torture later on when the Paladins were eventually captured, but either he was very good at hiding or she was looking at the wrong paladin. There hadn't been a situation dire enough for her to even find a way to test the Yellow one, the Paladin training sessions she'd momentarily observed were no where near dangerous enough nor did she have any influence over anything in the area besides Kuron. And she was not about to reveal her spy just to get answers.

Perhaps this process would be easier if the Red Paladin hadn't departed, this way she could observe and figure out which one of her two options was her desired target.

Hearing the door open, she sensed one of her underlings enter. It was Macidus. "High Priestess, Naxela is under attack. Voltron and the coalition have just reclaimed an entire section of the empire."

This was it. This was her chance. If there was one place Voltron would be, it would be Naxela, right where she planeted her bomb. It would be the perfect place to eliminate Voltron.

And the perfect place to finally determine which one was her Guardian.

"Good."

-.-

"It appears that all the areas have been liberated," Coran smiled pulling his moustache as he and Jaz watched the map.

"Problem just outside the playing field," Jaz grumbled, "we've got another Galra warship inbound to Naxela."

-.-

Keith fired his cannon again, clearing sector Ugqeo. /Sector Zar Niomofor is clear/ Matt called.

"Cool, we just cleared Ugqeo," he replied. "Can you get a shot at that crusier, cause I've got a shot, charging now."

/Checking for line of fire/ Darvah replied before cursing explicitly over the comms. /Zaiforge cannon Senfama, are you still operational?/

What were they—Keith's train of thought stopped as the controls fizzled from his grasp and the power went out. "No."

/That incoming cruiser must've shut them down remotely/ Coran said.

"Sorry Shiro, that's it for artillery support, what do you want us to do about that cruiser?" he called waiting for orders.

/That cruiser's gonna be too late/ Shiro called and Keith could hear something crashing in the background. /Naxela's almost secure, we just need to take out the last of the artillery/

As more explosions went off in the back, drowning the comms, Keith couldn't help but feel otherwise. That warship was a problem. He didn't know how or why, but he knew, something was off.

Then he felt it, a surge of energy, none of it good.

/Keith! Xe chea woop htuh [Do you feel that]?!/ Jaz called sounding worried.

"Choj [yes]," he replied. "Htoko'j enpch hfe htinvj i rnef htuh yun yuajo onokvioj piro htij [There's only two things I know of that can cause energies like this]."

/Ih'j hto xkaixj [It's the druids]/ she confirmed. /I'x rnef _tok _quuviy unchftoko [I'd know _her_ magic anywhere]/

-.-

/Did we cause that earthquake?/ Lance asked as Voltron landed on the shaking ground.

/I don't think so/ Pidge responded as the alarms in the lions began going off as the earth beneath them rumbled more.

It was Hunk who noticed first. /Guys! Look over there!/ he called and they turned, staring at the missive pillar, one of many, now rising from the ground. They were huge, Dwarfing Voltron in the way a planet dwarfs a spaceship.

/Uh, guys…what are those?/ Lance nearly stuttered.

/We've never seen anything like this from the Galra before/

/Am I the only one thinking that these could be the traps Keith talked about?/ Hunk remarked and all of their eyes widened. Their teammate did mention that Naxela had once harbored large druidic rituals, could these be a result?

/I'm not sure, they look like some sort of generator/ Pidge confessed.

Shiro frowned, they all had a point. They didn't know what they were and Keith did mention he discovered evidence of traps set on the planet. But weren't those likely all the cloaked mines they dealt with? Surely not even the druids could do something this big. "Everyone stay alert," he ordered debating on what to do. On one hand, his gut told him to get out of there as fast as possible, on the other, something in the back of his head told them they _had_ to stay. That they _needed_ to find out what this was.

/I say we get outta here!/ Lance voted. /Pidge plot a course for our escape/

At that, Shiro chose to follow the nagging voice in his head. "Hold on, we need to find out what these things are," he said as the one beside them began to glow. In the sky, a violet barrier appeared on the top of the pillar and like a particle barrier, it spread out between each one.

/This can't be safe/ Hunk said as they all felt it. Cold, Shiro felt like he'd just been shoved head-first into frozen, pitch-black waters and now he couldn't find the surface.

He knew that feeling, it was the same one he felt back in prison, the same one he could occasionally feel roll off Jaz during their time in the arena. The very essence of Haggar's magic slithering under his skin and causing agony over and over again. _This_ was it, _this _was the trap Keith was talking about. Not the mines.

/Do you feel that?/ Allura questioned breaking him out of his thoughts, /That wave of darkness?/

Opening his mouth to answer, he didn't get the chance as suddenly what felt like the weight of a building fell onto him. Voltron couldn't move, forced in place as whatever was attacking them only began to press harder.

/I can't move Red!/

/Yellow won't budge either!/

Voltron collapsed to its hands and knees, not even able to stay upright anymore as the weight continued to grow. /This weight's holding us down! Gravity levels are spiking!/ Pidge called.

"We have to get out of here! If we stay here we'll be crushed. Everyone, we have to focus. Give everything you've got, and maybe we can fight through this energy field. Ready?"

/Ready!/ they all replied and Shiro could feel a surge of determination and energy as they all funnled it into their shared bond. Voltron could move, granted it was a little impeded by the gravity, but they managed to get up onto their knees and activate the thrusters.

And they were airborne again. Shiro grinned, they could do this, they could escape this field and handle the Galra cruiser causing this problem.

His hope was short-lived as Voltron suddenly grinded to a hault. Their thrusters weren't able to push any harder, and for a moment they sputtered to a stop. They were in freefall, and, once again, Shiro desperately wished for seatbelts as he clung tight to the controls trying to will himself to stay in his chair.

It wasn't hard because the moment Voltron landed prone Shiro felt like her was being pressed against his chair like he was launching out of Earth's atmosphere in a Garrison rocket. "Is anyone able to move?"

/Barely. But the gravitational pull is worse on Voltron/ Katie grunted. /Maybe if we go down to the surface, Hunk and I can figure out a way to disrupt this energy field/

/Sounds good, except for the zillion robot dudes kicking around down there/

Shiro pressed his lips together. They had no choice. Voltron was out of commission with these generators on, they needed to deactivate them. "We're gonna have to stay in a tight formation. Watch each other's backs," he said hefting himself out of his chair and onto his feet. "Let's move!"

Hopping over the ground utilizing their jetpacks was the only way they managed to remain upright as they ran out of the lions towards the pillars. Leaping off the ledge, they flew over, thankfully making it with the only close call being Hunk. Lifting their sheilds, they began blocking the incoming sentry fire.

"Pidge, Hunk, do your thing."

The two nodded, disengaging from the protective line and scanning the tech.

"This rod seems to go all the way down to the planet's core. But I'm not detecting any kind of energy source on the planet that could cause all this."

"Then we'll need to follow it down to the core," Allura said.

/It's open!/

Hearing a beep, they all backed up into the pillar, lowering their sheilds as the door closed and blocked them from the incoming blasts.

They didn't stay where they were long, everyone leaping off the platform down to the shaft. It was the fastest way to get down, but they had to use their jetpacks to slow themselves down or risk breaking every bone in their body.

What they found down there was unexpected. The cold feeling doubled when they reached the bottom, and before they all knew it, they were in a room with a glowing violet orb in the center. But that was the only thing about the facility that looked Galran.

"Allura…this looks…Altean," he said biting the inside of his cheek waiting for her reaction.

However, instead of being furious that he'd even suggested such a thing, she nodded. "I'm afraid you're correct Shiro," she said walking towards the orb. "This was a decommissioned Altean terraforming plant, which somehow the witch has been able to remotely reactivate."

Shiro's brows furrowed, if there was one thing that could shut it down, it would be something with light energy like how Allura and Jaz healed the Balmera. It had to be that, they stopped her magic before, the girls could do it again…only…Jaz was with Coran. Maybe Allura could do it, hopefully, otherwise they'd need a miracle. "Can you shut it down?"

"I can try," she said walking forwards out-stretching her hand. Blue energy glew in her palm and across from her violet began to meet it.

It was then Allura began screaming as it started electrocuting her. Grabbing on, they all pulled, crying out in pain as they were blasted back, all of them smoking slightly.

"Are you ok?" Lance questioned.

"It's too poweful," Allura panted and Shiro's gut dropped. She couldn't do it, and they didn't have Jaz. They really would need a miracle, but for some reason, he got the feeling it wouldn't be coming anytime soon.

"Ugh," Hunk groaned popping up holding some of the dirt in his hand skeptically, "this soil's weird, it's so white and powdery, like ground-up rocks or earth. And hexamite!"

Blaster fire started up again and those with distance weapons began firing back as they all raised their shields. "What's hexamite? Some of us may've slept through chemistry!" Lance called.

"The whole planet is a bomb! One that's big enough to wipe out several solar systems."

"It's under increasing pressure, and when that reaches a certain point, it's going to explode!"

"How long do we have?" Shiro questioned.

"Maybe twenty minutes?"

"We have to get off this planet and warn everyone!"

"Anyone within ten solar systems of us will get blown to pieces!"

"They could take out Voltron, the Blade of Marmora, the rebels, the entire coalition in one fell swoop!"

Shiro activated his jetpack ad shot forwards. They couldn't afford to sit there. He needed to get his team off this planet and to safety, they needed to warn everyone of the danger they were in.

-.-

"Coran, is there any targets needing help?"

/I haven't heard from anyone, Jaz is checking now/ he replied. /And that Galra fleet heading towards Naxela stopped/

That didn't sound right. "Stopped?"

/Yes. Quite a distance away too/

"Perhaps the Galra decided it's too well-fortified to attack," Kolivan said.

If he was trying to be optimistic, Keith decided he would rather take the man's pessimistic personality more. "That doesn't make sense, the Galra way is victory or death. They never stop attacking…" The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. No, the Galra wouldn't stop attacking, not unless thay had a plan. "Voltron. Shiro? Can you hear me? Shiro!"

There wasn't a response.

"Something's wrong."

/Must be the magnetic distortion coming from Naxela/ Jaz called, /It's been getting worse/

"I'm gonna check it out," he said. Running away from Kolivan and the others, he raced for the landing strip. As far as he knew it was empty, and even if anyone did see his ship, they could assume he stole it. "Yorak, summon the Holborn!"

_"Understood."_

A familiar black and silver ship fazed into reality and Keith teleported onto his ride, practically hurling himself into the pilot seat. "Matt, something's wrong. I can't reach Voltron," he called driving his ship out of the atmosphere as his ghost input the coordinates for hyperspace.

/We can fly to Naxela to check on them/

"No, I need you help. I can't explain why, but I know that we need to attack that fleet," he countered.

/I thought it stopped/

"It has, but we're afraid it has something to do with Voltron," he stated.

/We're on our way/ Darvah replied.

"Copy."

/We're coming too!/ Jaz called. /It may take us a bit, we're on the other side of the galaxy and I can't produce enough energy to work the teludav right now/

"Stay in position. We might need you two back there," he said and could hear the Awoken woman grumble angrily.

"We're ready for hyperspace," Yorak informed.

"Actiavting in three, two, one."

-.-

/Keith, can you hear me?/ Shiro called causing Yorak to yelp and evaporate in a flash of light.

"Shiro," he breathed relieved to finally get communications running with his brother again, "where are you?! Is everything ok?"

/Not for long if we don't stop Zarkon's witch. She must be aboard that battle cruiser/

"I'm way ahead of ya," he smirked. "And I brought back up."

/Rebel squad is en route/ Olia called as Keith glanced at the fleet moving beside his own ship.

/Good to have Voltron back in the fight!/

/Target in sight…By the Elders/ Darvah breathed, /What is that?/

/There appears to be some sort of weapon attached to the cruiser/

Keith zoomed in and frowned, they were right. There was a weapon attached to the bow of the ship, one that reminded him of a bayonet. "Everyone focus your fire on that ship!" he ordered as they dove out of the way as the fight began.

Typing on his monitor he began charging the Holborn's transmitter before firing as several more fighters got in his way. "Darv! EMP's charging, I'll need a clear shot at the ship!"

/Understood, clearing way now, I can't guaruntee how long it'll be open though/

While Darvah's ships got to work, Matt chose to focus on a different matter all together /YOUR SHIP HAS AN EMP?!/

"Yes, now's not the time to focus on that, just make sure all rebel ships are out of my radius when I attack," he said glancing at the charge again, just a minute longer. Hopefully it would be enough time, the dark energy radiating from the ship was only continuing to grow. It wouldn't be long before whatever the witch was planning came to pass.

_"It's ready!"_

Blasting forwards, Keith wove under and over the incoming fire, placing his thumb on the trigger. Seeing a laser coming his way, the ship flipped and dove down, aiming the satellite dish right at the ship. "Hope this works," he muttered.

The EMP rang out, hitting the ship and everyone could see the shield flickering for a few moments before coming online.

_"There must be a back-up power generator, or the druid's magic is counteracting our weaponry."_

"Either way, we need to break through that shield. Is there anything in our arsenal that could work?"

_"I would've said the nano-titanium boron bomb-thing but we're fresh out."_

A pit formed at the bottom of his stomach, "Nothing else?"

_"No."_

/Keith! Our weapons can't break through this shield!/

"…Maybe not with our weapons," he muttered. Turning to the scanners he looked over the energy cells, combined with any remaining ammunition, it should be enough to break the shield. It had to be.

/Keith, what are you taking about?/

Without answering, Keith hit the thrusters, setting them to the max. He needed to be going as fast as possible in order to ignite the ammo.

/WAIT! KEITH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!/

/KEITH!/

/KEITH! NO!/

He ignored their cries for him to stop. This was the _only_ way. He understood that now, it was the logic behind the actions of Ulaz, Thace, Regris, and thousands of other Guardians who'd given their lives. Without sacrifice, there is no victory.

And Guardians were designed to be the expendable soldiers.

With one last shaky breath, Keith closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable pain of death.

Only, it never came. Instead, he was greeted by an already exploding shield when he opened his eyes, and with its collapse, the darkness that had been growing suddenly retreated. Pulling the Holborn back, he stared in shock at the one who came to his aid.

Why? Why would _he_ help them?

/Naxela's returning to normal! You did it!/

/Good work Keith/ Shiro praised and Keith frowned.

"It wasn't me. It was Lotor. That cannon on his ship was the only thing powerful enough to take down that shield."

A comm channel opened and Keith held his breath, he was here, the person he'd been hunting down for months was now here and he couldn't treat him like an enemy. Not after he just saved his life, he at least owed the man that much. The least he could do was hear what he had to say. /Attention Paladins of Voltron and Rebel Fighters: I know we've had our differecnes in the past, but…I think it is time we had a discussion/

-.-

Keith leaned against his ship as everyone else was in the meeting room discussing what to do about Lotor. It wasn't that he didn't want to have a say in what happened with him, but at the same time…he couldn't do it. He couldn't face Matt and Davrah and all the other rebels after what he did. After he almost killed himself.

They wouldn't understand, they wouldn't get where he was coming from. Everyone would just tell him his choices were stupid and selfish like they always were.

It would be best if he left now, there was no doubt Matt would tell everyone what he almost did. The Paladins…he wasn't sure he wanted to see how'd they'd react to the news. He didn't want to hurt them, that was why he left in the first place.

Besides, even if they did find out, he knew is Voltron was far more important. More important than his own life.

-.-

Haggar strode to her lab in rage. Naxela had failed, because of Prince Lotor.

The traitorous prince had outright attacked her ship using one of the stolen comet ships to save _Voltron._ It was infuriating because they lost a third of their territory and she had been unable to test the Yellow Paladin. She was still no closer to her Guardian.

"High Priestess," Macidus spoke and she grit her teeth. Hagger was not in the mood to deal with his useless attempts to prove to her which Paladin was her target. She would determine that for herself, she needed the evidence, not the mere hopes of someone who had virtually become obsessed to redeem themselves after such a brutal failure to stop Voltron from obtaining vital intel. "High Priestess?"

"What?"

"There is something you need to see," he said and she turned to watch him put something on the screen, "your ship during the battle of Naxela managed to obtain an image that may help solve our Guardian debacle."

Alright, now he had her attention, Macidus had evidence. Gliding forwards, she watched the footage appear and pause focusing on an arrow-shaped ship with beams extending out from under the engines and a satellite on the top. This was definitely a Guardian aircraft, Prince Lotor had once been obsessed with their engineering, if what she remembered was correct, Hagger found herself gazing at a Holbron Splint, a ship specialized for speed and combat. The color was different, this ship was black at the front, grey along the rest, almost unnoticible in the void of space save for the glint of the light coming off the metal. What made it so notable, was the satellite on its back, modified to emit powerful EMPs to bring down large ships. An attack by that would explain why the power temporarily went out till the druids not involved in the ritual had to reactivate the ship.

"Voltron was reported leaving Naxela at the same time this ship was already engaged in combat."

A wicked grin split over her face, finally, some good news. There was only one Paladin that could have been there. The one whom had departed not long after Kuron had arrived at the Castle of Lions, the Red Paladin.

"Inform Emperor Zarkon immediately, there is a Guardian among the Blade of Marmora."


	36. The Apprentice

Chapter 36

**A/N: once again, I just own my OCs and the story.**

**/comms/**

**_Flashbacks/telepathy/dreams_**

**"Bold is intercoms."**

Keith rammed into the cell door again. His most recent mission based on Lotor's intel did not go well, disaster would be a better term considering he was captured, thrown in a cell, and had been trying to break out for the past eight vargas. The Blade didn't do rescues, not unless they thought they could in fact pull it off; and Voltron…they probably didn't even know he was missing.

He was on his own.

On the bright side, things could be worse; he remembered the stories that none of the enemies of the Guardians took prisoners, save for the case of Eris Morn. It was because of this he was always scared that his dad would never come back; while Guardians could revive and were considered immortal, even they had an Achilles Heel. Ghosts could be killed.

And kill the ghost, you essentially kill the Guardian.

Which is why he didn't want to stay any longer than necessary, he needed to get Yorak out, especially with the recent rumors that they'd obtained from their spies. Haggar and Zarkon were searching for something, what they weren't sure; but considering his past encounters with druids and with how the Empire regarded Guardians, Keith was willing to bet he was the target.

The question was just: how to get out without blowing his cover?

The door hissed open, and his head snapped up before he narrowed his eyes at the three druids standing in the doorway. The middle one stepped in and Keith wrinkled his nose, the darkness rolling off of each one of them was almost sickening.

The middle one continued to step forwards and he raised his fists calculating his odds. If he summoned the Coldheart his father gave him for his twelfth birthday, he could easily kill all three of them.

"You have no reason to fear us."

_"Yeah right,"_ Yorak snarled, _"These guys reek of Darkness. Don't trust them!"_

It wasn't like he was planning on it.

"Come with us."

"No thanks," he said.

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice," he growled, as the two druids in the doorway, followed by two more joined the witch in the room, each levelling a hand at him ready to attack should he choose to lash out.

Keith chewed the inside of his cheek, he could handle three wizards, but five, plus the nervous muttering and clicking of armor from what was likely nervous guards outside the door, that was pushing it, especially in cramped quarters. However, if he got outside into open space and he caught them off guard using a supercharge, he could get out.

Reluctantly letting his gun evaporate back into his storage, Keith raised his hands in surrender. A pleased grunt from the middle one turning his back to him almost made him just lash out anyways. He could do it, he could throw a punch and knock this guy's lights out for the rest of eternity. He would likely die horribly and painfully, but it'd be worth it for what they did to Jaz and Shiro.

Wayr it. Keith threw the punch.

Instead of making impact like he was expecting, his fist met air as he teleported several feet away in front of them. All at once, the four druids surrounding him fired, energy coming from their hands and wrapping around his arms, pulled them straight out to either side as the druid glided towards him.

"We were hoping you were willing to be cooperative so we could avoid this," he grumbled, "however Guardian, since you've chosen to be hostile, we will have to take measures to ensure both your safety and our own."

"I doubt you can hold me forever," he growled tugging against the restraints. The four druids holding him stumbled slightly at the pull, these guys weren't nearly ready enough to stand toe-to-toe with him in terms of brute strength.

"We have our ways," he replied giving a motion and the two druids in the front of the room moved out of the door, pulling with as much force as they could muster to drag him along as the other two focused on retaining tension in their lines. Exiting the cell, Keith collected his bearings, the Galra definitely didn't want to take chances, there were at least ten sentries and the same number of trembling guards levelling their guns at him.

He'd had worse odds, maybe not with the case of the druids, but he could easily handle the small fry.

"Move," a guard said shoving him forwards with the barrel of his gun.

Keith grit his teeth and moved forwards waiting for the moment to strike, he still needed to complete the solo mission Kolivan assigned him and collect the intel about the possible new quintessence shipping routes.

_"Hey Keith, so…I did a scan of these guys, they're running out of power. And to make things even better, we're approaching the area that our spy stored the intel. It's coming up in three turns." _Keith raised his brows, talk about convenient. "_Should I get everything ready for a prison break?"_ Yorak questioned and Keith sent confirmation through their bond. He wasn't exactly sure how they could communicate when the ghost was hidden like this, but then again, no Guardian was really sure about the process.

The druids continued to lead him through the Galra ship, likely to the bridge where he can be presented to the witch or Zarkon like a prized pig. As, they strode to the third turn, Keith snapped his fingers, giving the signal. The druids nearly tripped as Keith pulled, hard enough to snap the weakened magic cables holding him. His Marmora suit was replaced with the more durable armor and without hesitation, Keith jumped up, and slammed a quintessence-coated fist into the floor.

A shockwave of evergy circled out, frying three of the druids and most of the guards in his immediate vicinity. Pulling out his sword, Keith lunged at the two surviving druids, the first one teleported away, leaving his partner to be skewered on the blade.

Looking around for the remaining druid, he growled when he didn't spot him among the scrambling guards or among the debris of his attack. Coward.

Either way, he didn't matter, the intel was more important. Walking away from the chaotic scene, he pressed his hand against one of the pads, opening the door and strolling right into the room. "Where did Kolivan say the operative's intel was hidden again?" he muttered tracing his finger over the creases in the console.

_"It should be hidden in a keycard port."_

Nodding, he looked at the ports, while tracing one, his thumb caught on something. He crouched down, jiggling the object a moment, before pulling out a small chip. "This must be it," he muttered, "put it into storage."

_"Got it,"_ Yorak replied and the chip evaporated in a flash of light.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and we need more GAC, I don't want to have to start using Glimmer, I'm not sure what the currency conversion rates are out here," he said racing out the door.

Jumping over the fallen sentries, Keith followed the arrow on his scanner, not even bothering to shoot the sentries that got in his way. It would be a waste of time and right now he needed to get off this ship, meaning he needed an airlock. They would be expecting him to go to the hangar.

Seeing his arrow turn a different direction, Keith skid to a stop, using his jetpack to help propel him into the next hall, right towards an airlock. He slammed his hand on the pad, opening the door and sealing it behind him as the countdown began.

**"Ten…Nine…Eight…"**

There was a clamor in the hall, and Keith turned, waving as he saw the guards finally catching up.

**"…Seven…Six…"**

The druid materialized in front of them, leveling a glowing hand towards the door.

**"Five…"**

Materializing his own shield, Keith waited for the doors to open so he could summon his ship and leave.

**"…Four…"**

The druid fired, their lightning hitting the airlock door.

**"Three…"**

Cracks began to spread over the glass as the energy began to sear through, and Keith noted that his quintessence shield was starting to fizzle out of existence.

**"Two…"**

The glass began to break as the soldiers started to open fire, trying to aid the druid in breaking through the door.

But it was too late.

**"…One."**

The airlock opened and Keith was sucked out into the void of space. His ship flew towards him, and Keith grabbed on as it flew past, crawling inside and springing into the pilot's seat. Time to blow this popsicle stand.

-.-

"So…how much do you think this is worth?" Keith asked twirling a broken pistol from the early days of the Red War.

"Uh…I dunno?"

"Hopefully somethin', we need to fix the transmat," he muttered stashing it in his holster. "What're the nearest trading planets?"

"Well, there's Vayar," Yorak suggested. "But it's expansive and has a lot of high-ranking Galra."

"It'll do," he sighed opening a holorscreen of his inventory checking through his clothing articles, "Where's my regular clothes?"

"Check the consumables."

Mumbling in irritation Keith maganed to locate and change into his regular clothes, before setting their course.

-.-

Landing had proven to be a challenge. First off, the hangar had guards, meaning customs. He'd risk being identified either through wanted posters or through his ship. So that meant he had to improvise. Good news, he managed to locate a clearing; bad news, it was in the marsh outside the city. There was also the little detail of getting through walls surrounding the place he was trying to reach.

"So…you think we could transmat?" Keith questioned as he crouched in the brush looking for a point of entrance.

_"Um…no. Ours is broken. The only way that would work is if you died."_

Quiznak.

Pursing his lips, Keith's gaze flickered over the wall, occasionally stopping on a catwalk perched high up on the side. Every now and then he'd see a guard walk past, but, if he were fast enough he could sneak past without getting caught. The only question would be how to get up there?

He could use his jetpack, it gave enough lift for him to get up there. It was just would it be too loud?

Watching another set of guards walk past, he sighed. No point to worry about it, jetpacking was literally his only option, none of the trees were close enough to let him climb up and swing over to one of the platforms.

Switching on a set of armor, he double checked to make sure his count wasn't off. Coast was clear. Taking his chance, Keith sprinted out towards the wall, activating his jetpack and launching himself into the air. The lift stopped just below the platform, just close enough for him to grab on and hoist himself up and over the railing.

Not wanting to waste any time, he started moving, trying to find an entrance into the wall. Seeing a door open, he ran forwards, ducking behind a colum jutting out from the side of the wall as two guards exited.

"So did you hear about what happened on the _Qazar_?"

"Not much, I heard there was some kind of attack. Voltron?"

"No, the ship was intact, but some of the crew just vanished into thin air, the rest were practically torn apart."

"Seriously? Weren't there three druids on that ship?"

"I think there were six, but a friend of mine told me only _one_ made it out. That's all he would say though, command's trying to keep this pretty quiet."

"Must be something big. Think it's like the incident on the _Vanderhym_?"

"Maybe, the events are similar but I don't think it's the same. Think about it, the _Vanderhym_ was radioactive, no one, not even the druids could get onboard. And all of the crew died, this time it was just some. Not to mention we can still board the ship, so it's not radioactive…" the conversation faded as the two guards continued on their route unknowningly leaving an intruder by the closing door.

Grabbing the door just as it was about to close, Keith looked after where the two guards walked off to. The _Vanderhym_? Sounded like something worth investigating. Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, Keith pushed his curiosity aside. He could look into the _Vanderhym_ later, right now he needed to get into the city to get fuel.

Slipping inside, Keith crept through the halls holding his blade ready to defend himself should he encounter any guards along his journey to the city, where hopefully he could sell the gun to buy some parts to repair the damaged transmat and maybe some food.

After nearly being discovered several times, he eventually found his way out of the wall and into town. He came out near what he assumed was the upper side of town due to all the lavishly dressed people walking around shopping around what appeared to be the open mall.

And here he was, covered in mud. That didn't make him stand out. Nope, not at all.

Maybe he should've waited before changing clothes.

Oh well, too late now. Maybe he had a spare set in storage?

Slipping back into the wall, he hid in an alcove and started sorting through his inventory again, searching for maybe something he could use instead of his mud-covered clothing. Keith scowled as he saw his options: armor, undersuit, Marmora suit, and what he was currently. Those were is options. Fantastic.

Well…maybe if he mixed and matched he could pass? He did have some ceremonial armor he'd been meaning to deconstruct for spare parts. Keith thought back to the clothes of the closest people. Ceremonial with no helmet would definitely pass, he might be pushing his luck, but at least he wouldn't be glanced at twice with it.

His armor fizzled over his frame, replacing the marsh-soaked clothing he'd previously planned to wear, and he walked out of the alley strapping the pistol under his sash. Time to find a shop to sell his broken gun.

"Well, well, I'm impressed that you snuck that gun by the city guard," a feminine voice spoke and he whirled his gaze meeting a Galra woman leading against the wall. She was fairly tall, had ears similar to Sendak pointing out from her long, dark violet hair; however she had a set visible red irises in her yellow tinted eyes that were framed by red marks. "Relax, I'm no snitch." She moved from the wall tapping her cheek. "In fact, I take it you're looking for a place to sell it?"

Keith narrowed his eyes; this was too convenient. "What makes you say that?"

"Your armor," she replied. "Cerimonial Guardian armor worn only for the Revelry. An ancient Terran holiday celebrating life and the return of the growing season." She smirked flipping her ribbon-braided hair smugly, "I'll admit, I'm impressed, no one's collected a full set of gear from the Guardians. But just to warn you, that type doesn't offer much protection."

"I'm aware, I just needed something to fit in."

She nodded, "Makes sense, this garb isn't my standard choice either," she motioned to the formal robes she wore. "Anyways, if you're looking for a place to sell the gun, it's right here." The Galra turned putting her hands on her hips as she glared at the closed door behind her. "And it's not open! My benefactor bought an important Guardian relic from them and I told them I would be here to procure it _today_! And where are they? Not here!"

"Uh…Sorry—Wait," Keith paused, "Did you say you buy Guardian things?"

"Well, my benefactor does, I just determine what should be in his collection," she replied, ear twitching. "What'cha got?"

Pulling out the pistol, Keith twirled it in his hand lazily as her eyes widened. "A gun. As I'm sure you know."

"Wait…is that completely intact?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Uh, it's got a punctured combustion chamber, and the firing pin's a little banged up but that's about it."

"That's it?" she muttered. "May I see it?"

"Uh, sure," he offered, handing her the gun watching curiously as she inspected it. "But, uh, why are you surprised about the damage?"

"Really? You're obviously a scavenger, you must know that most Guardian artifacts recovered are mostly dismantled or broken…" she trailed off looking him over again, "Though, you must have unusual luck given your armor…How much do you want for the gun and the armor?"

"What? I don't have any other clothes!" he protested and she huffed.

"Well then my benefactor will buy you some! He'd kill for the gun, let alone the almost complete set! I'm actually curious on what he'd be willing to spend if you had the matching helmet."

"Uh…"

Her ears dropped, "You actually have the matching helment?"

Keith smiled nervously before he was all but dragged off his feet by the woman. "COME ON—What's your name?"

"Keith"

"WELL THEN, KEITH! WE'RE GOING SHOPPING!"

-.-

Keith sat wearing a set of loose-fitting clothes that reminded him a lot of the outfits typically worn on Terra across from the Galra woman as she took a sip from what he had to guess was Nunville. "Well, now that you're properly clothed we can discuss business. Tell me, how much do you want for the gun and Revelry Armor? Money is no object."

"Well…I was just kinda hoping to trade the gun for parts to fix my transmat and maybe some food."

The Galra woman just stared, jaw dropped. "Come again?"

"I said—"

"I heard you!" she interrupted pinching the bridge of her nose as her ears flattened to her head. "But what?! Do you understand how hard it is to get items that intact and you're selling them for _parts_?!" Pulling out a pad she grumbled a few things and pressed the pad to his face. "Will this do?"

Keith gazed over the pad in shock, he officially had enough materials to possibly rebuild his damaged transmat, plus a surplus of food and what was possibly more credits than he knew what to do with. "Um, yes?"

"Good," she grinned snatching the pad back before slamming her hands on the table with a manical grin. "And one more thing: You're now _my_ exclusive!"

"You're what?!"

"You trade Guardian things with me and _only_ me! With luck like yours I'm not letting you go trade with others," she replied handing him a small transmitter. "Here, this has my contact info. Call me whenever you get something good! And your supplies…where do you want them sent to? I don't know where your ship is."

"Um, can you send them to the nearest post? I can pick them up there on my way back."

"Perfect! They'll be there within the varga!" she grinned picking up the bag holding the armor and gun.

"Wait! I didn't get your name!" he protested standing up.

"I'm Tarin, pleasure to meet you," she smiled before walking away. "I do hope our paths cross again scavenger."

Keith shook his head, if things went alright, then he shouldn't need to resort to selling gear. Though, he glanced at the transmitter, having a buyer on standby might not be so bad.

Shrugging, he shoved it in his pocket and began strolling towards the nearest postmaster. He just needed to pick up his supplies and fly back to the Blade.

-.-

"High Priestess, pleasure to see you again," Tarin smiled widely as the witch joined her on the elevator to the bridge.

"Lady Jaxtiv, I trust your new assignment has been beneficial for you?"

"What can I say, you trained me too well," she replied, "well, the bits I picked up. Combat and tracking magic are more my forte. They're quite handy when getting what I desire for our liege's collection."

"Pity you aren't aspiring to be more than a liaison. Your talents could have much use in the druids," Haggar spoke as her former apprentice scoffed.

"Like what? Tracking escaped prisoners with no exciting lore or history?"

"I think you would be most interested in our most recent escapee."

Tarin scoffed, "And what makes you say that?"

"He's a Guardian."

Earing perking up at full attention, Tarin looked down at her former teacher. "Attacking and imprisoning Guardians is illegal."

"He's currently a danger to himself and others."

"How?"

"He's allied with Voltron."

She sighed putting her arms behind her back, "I see. That would present a problem."

"Your tracking abilities would be beneficial to us finding him as soon as possible," Haggar pressed.

"You know as well as I do my skills in terms of living subjects," she reminded.

The witch opened her mouth to speak again, but the elevator doors opened ending the conversation as Tarin put on a wide smile and strolled out towards the Emperor.

"Emperor Zarkon."

"Tarin, I hope you have a good excuse for disturbing me," the Emperor mulled from his throne as his liason entered.

"Well, I thought you'd like to see one of the two newest additions to your collection?" she purred holding up the handcannon teasingly.

Zarkon nodded in approval, at least someone today was being productive. "And what of the other aspect of my purchase?"

The ex-druid merely smiled playfully, "Now, you'll just have to wait and see! It was an absolute pain to get, but trust me when I say: it's one of a kind. In fact, I'm pretty sure anything I'll get from this seller will be one of a kind. Everything he had was intact!"

"I look forwards to it," he nodded before turning his attention back to the witch. "Haggar?"

"The Guardian escaped."

Zarkon frowned behind his mask, it shouldn't have been a surprise, and yet there it was. At least one person got their job done right today.


	37. Regicide

Chapter 37

**A/N: once again, I just own my OCs and the story.**

**/comms/**

**_Flashbacks/telepathy/dreams_**

**"Bold is intercoms."**

Zarkon tapped his throne in frustration, all these decapheobs, and there had been no trace of what happened to the Guardians, a legion of extremely skilled warriors does not just vanish, especially after being the only group to successfully fight the Hive and Vex alone for over five-thousand years. Something happened, but unfortunately, the Krein system was the Cabal Empire's territory. He'd been planning on using Voltron to handle the Cabal, but with it now being used against him, the treaty between the two empires was the only thing keeping the warmonger Ghaul from continuing his conquests.

A Guardian on his side would not only remind the smaller empire of his strength, but he could forge a very powerful alliance with the immortal legion of warriors. No one, not even Voltron, would stand a chance with such powerful quintessence wielders by his side. Even if it was only the one warrior.

The good news was, according to Haggar's research, the Coalition didn't even know what they had on their side, not once except in the case of his narrow escapes had the Guardian ever made his power known. Even when the child so foolishly fought with him when he was the Red Paladin, he did not use his ability to completely decimate his forces.

Whatever was the reason why he was in hiding and didn't use his power, one thing was clear: Zarkon needed to find that Guardian before Voltron could use it against him.

"Emperor Zarkon, we are getting hailed by an unidentified ship, they are requesting to speak with you," a soldier said, coming in with a bow.

Perhaps this will give him a well needed distraction.

"Very well," he replied, standing up and walking past the saluting soldier onto the bridge.

Once he stood on the platform, he scowled as one of Lotor's generals appeared on the monitor.

/Emperor Zarkon/ Axca greeted with a nod.

"…What do you want?"

/We have something in our possession that we think you might be interested in. We are willing to trade it for our safe passage back into the Galra ranks/ she replied coolly making his eyes narrow. Whatever it was, it better have been the Guardian, a Voltron Lion, or Lotor.

"I'm listening."

She pulled up an image of an older human male trapped in the ship's hold, Zarkon remembered him, he was one of the weaklings that arrived with the Champion, the only thing that saved it from death was the fact its brain had uses for the Empire.

/The Paladins have been doing extensive research in trying to locate this prisoner, we believe that they're trying to find him, he might even be related to one of the Paladins himself/ she smiled. /We propose that you use him as leverage to either decrease the attacks or make a trade to get what you want from them/

Zarkon smirked, a trade huh? How far would the Paladins be willing to go for this man? They would no doubt give up Lotor.

…And maybe even the Guardian.

-.-

The Paladins stood on the bridge of the Castleship glancing sadly every now and then at Matt and Pidge, they had come so close to rescuing their father, from the data they collected, they just missed rescuing him by a couple vargas.

"Damn it!" Jaz exclaimed slamming her fist on the console. "What use could Lotor's generals possibly have with Commander Holt?!"

"Ransom?" Darvah offered.

"For who? Us? What do we have to give them?" Hunk questioned.

"Uh, Prince L'Oreal downstairs."

"Oh, right."

The monitor beeped from a hailing frequency that none of them recognized, glancing at each other, then Allura, they all nodded and she opened the call.

/Paladins of Voltron/ Zarkon greeted coldly.`

"Zarkon," Shiro whispered, sounding as surprised as they all no doubt were.

/I am making a one-time offer/ he continued /I have someone of value to you/

The emperor stepped aside to show Lotor's generals, and standing in front of them in cuffs, was Commander Samuel Holt.

"Dad!" Pidge exclaimed in shock shooting to her feet.

/I will hand him over on two conditions: in exchange you give me my son Lotor, turn over the Guardian immediately. Bring me both of them if you want to see the Earthling alive again/ Zarkon said before ending the call.

Just outside the door, Keith listened with wide eyes. Kolivan had sent him to personally deliver the time sensitive intel he got from his mission to Voltron, and he arrived just in time to hear the demands. The guys (save for Darvah and Jaz) had no idea what a Guardian was, let alone that it was he they had to exchange for Pidge's father, there was no way they could do it, his friends would never trade on of their own…unless…unless, Keith gave himself up. That's what Zarkon was counting on; that he'd be nearby to be able to make the trade, and he was counting on the fact that Voltron had no idea that Keith was a Guardian.

"He's alive! Our dad is alive! We have to get him back!" Katie exclaimed.

"We're going to," Matt said determinedly. "What's the plan Shiro?"

"We can't rush into anything. We have to think this through," Shiro said making Keith blink in shock.

That wasn't right, at least it didn't seem right…when Allura was captured Shiro put her rescue on the top of the priorities list, and Samuel Holt's rescue had been up near the top for a while now. Why was he hesitating?

"What's to think through?! It's my dad! We're doing this!" Pidge snapped.

"We need to operate under the assumption that Zarkon is going to double-cross us," Shiro stated.

"Which he will," Darvah muttered. "I know negotiations with people like him, he's not going to let go of all the cards. He'll likely try using him to make sure you surrender the lions."

"He's gotta point," Jaz agreed.

"We have Voltron! We can do anything!"

"Pidge—"

"No! We can't let this opportunity slip away! We're too close! Our father is too close!" she snarled.

"What about this Guardian he demanded?" Hunk questioned. "I mean, we have Lotor, but why does he think we have…whoever else he's after?"

"So what! We have Lotor, let's just turn him over and get rid of him! A life for a life!"

Things on the other side of the door went quiet for a moment, "Jaz? Darv?" Lance questioned. "Do you know what he was talking about? The Guardian?"

It was silent for a moment longer before there was an audible sigh, as Davrah lied through his teeth, "They're just legends. Stories our parents would tell us before bed."

"What kind of stories?" Shiro questioned.

"Great warriors said to wield the power of gods at their fingertips," Jaz supplied. "Capable of throwing arcs of fire and lightning across a room, destroying any enemy in their path; and even able to move between different planes of existence at will. They were said to be the only force stopping darkness from consuming the universe and the greatest enemy of the Hive. Stories even told of an innate ability to resurrect themselves upon death, making them essentially immortal."

"That sounds bad," Hunk wimpered.

"So wait," Lance interjected, "if Zarkon's after one of these guys…do you think he actually, you know, found one?"

"You better hope not," Jaz drawled. "Voltron or not a fully-fledged Guardian would slaughter you."

"Of course, that's if Zarkon turns them into a weapon," Darvah added.

"What else would they be used for?" Allura questioned sounding rather concerned.

"Quintessence. Guardians are supposed to be one of the few natural producers of almost exponential amounts of pure, weaponized quintessence. It's said if they're completely drained it'll only take less than ten dobashes for them to completely recover it."

"You're kidding," Matt breathed.

"…No."

"Well, if Zarkon did find one, we cannot let him get his claws on them," Shiro stated.

"But my father!" Pidge protested.

"Don't worry Pidge, we'll get him back," Darvah reassured.

Slowly backing away from the door, Keith moved to another room and jammed the drive into one of the ports. This was bad, this was really bad. According to the message, Zarkon _required_ a Guardian to even do the trade to get Sam Holt back. Even if they did offer Lotor there was no guarantee that Zarkon would return the favor. At least if he was there, Zarkon would have to give up Commander Holt.

"Yorak, get me those coordinates Zarkon sent."

-.-

"KEITH! KEITH BO KO [Keith! Keith come in]!" Jaz shouted into the comms as soon as she and Darvah managed to separate themselves from the others.

To their mutual relief, there was beep on the other line, /Fos [what]?/

"Zarkon mindok! Rok mindok hi los Vahlok [Zarkon knows! He knows you're a Guardian]!" Darvah hissed. "Rok fusrot hi ko ofanix fah Uthiik Holt [He's demanding you in exchange for Commander Holt]!"

/…Zu'u mindok [I know]/

"Fos?"

/…Kolivan jittan zey wah kelnat osos osfal. Zu'u avokhon […Kolivan sent me to deliver some intel. I overheard]/

"Kolos hi [where are you]?" Jaz demanded gripping the communicater with almost white knuckles.

/…/

"Keith Kogane. Kolos. Hi?"

There was a sigh on the other end. /Zu'u los bo [I'm going]/

"FOS!"

/Hi hon zey [You heard me]/ Keith replied. /Zu'u los vos Uthiik Holt fey ol grunzah. Zu'u vis filok, rok nis [I'm not letting Commander Holt stay as a prisoner. I can escape, he can't]/

"Keith…"

/Ahrk dreh ni unt wah vuth zey [And don't try to stop me]!/ he snapped shutting off the channel.

"Draaf."

-.-

"Anything?" Keith questioned as he sat back down in the pilot seat of his ship.

"The Castle of Lions just arrived," Yorak spoke, his shell spinning nervously as he watched the larger ship.

"We're cloaked right?"

"Signal scramblers are on, the only way they'll know we're here is if they see us."

"Good," he replied putting on his helmet. "Anything on the Galra?"

"Not yet, but I feel like they'll be here soon."

"Likely," Keith agreed. "We'll fly down when both parties are present."

"Not sooner?"

"No, Jaz and Darvah are probably going to try to stop us, better to get there when we know they can't try anything without revealing everything."

"Keith…" the ghost trailed off his little eye blinking before flickering back to his Guardian, "are you sure we should do this?"

"Yorak, we don't have much of a choice," Keith sighed. "We don't know what will happen if Zarkon finds out that they didn't bring a Guardian like he demanded, and odds are he'll try to double cross them. Our friends may need back-up."

"Guess so, the Galra just got here."

-.-

Jaz sat quietly beside Matt and Darvah, keeping her rilfe leveled at the prisoner just in case he tried to escape. She couldn't help but worry over the situation; it seemed too good to be true. There was no way Zarkon wouldn't be planning something underhanded. He'd be trying to get his hands on Voltron in some way.

She sighed to herself, they would just have to solve the situation when the time came. No use in fraying her nerves more than necessary. At least she could have the small reassurance that Keith wasn't here. That hardheaded Titan would no doubt hand himself over to the Galra just to spare Commander Holt's suffering; Guardians were stupidly noble that way.

Though…how did the Galra figure him out? She frowned in worry, she hadn't heard anything about him being captured—but that was unlikely considering Zarkon was demanding him and Lotor in exchange for the Commander. Could Yorak have been seen? Was he spied on? Or was it just a series of coincidences?

Jaz shook her head, she didn't have time to worry about this.

Once the ship landed, Matt stood up, nodding to them as he stepped out to talk with Pidge and Shiro. Leaving Jaz and Darvah alone with Lotor.

"Jaz," Lotor spoke up earning a scalding glare from the Awoken woman, "surely you must know this isn't right. My father will never let him go!"

"I'm sure we can find a way to see through his little tricks," Darvah said adjusting his own cannon. "We know he'll probably try to backstab us."

"Obviously, but you must understand, my father knows I am aware of secrets he cannot possibly risk getting out otherwise his very throne could be in jeopardy. That is why he seeks to take me away!"

"Really, because I'm pretty sure he sounded more eager to get his hands on that Guardian he demanded we bring too," Darvah muttered.

"G-Guardian?"

"Allura didn't tell you?" Jaz questioned boredly, "Zarkon demanded we bring him some Guardian, whom he believes for some reason is allied with us." She raised an eyebrow hoping he bought her lie. "Know why?"

Lotor took a moment to break out of his shock. "Well…um, in the Empire it's actually illegal to so much as touch a Guardian without the proper clearance or their permission. Having one on your side would render my father's forces unable to attack."

Jaz and Darvah shared a look, maybe they needed Keith to stop hiding in the shadows after all. "Anything else?"

Lotor looked uncertain before nodding. "Yes, many decapheobs ago, Zarkon sought to make an alliance with the Guardians. However, the negotiations plumited rapidly; rumor has it that the Vanguard issued a bounty on his head."

"Something if which got out would put his throne at risk?" Darvah reiterated.

Lotor nodded, a glimmer of something akin to hope flashed in his eyes. "With absolute certainty, Guardians are highly revered for their prowess in combat as well as their ability to produce an unlimited supply of pure quintessence. If word got out I would bet many of the Galra would turn against the Empire."

"And let me guess," Jaz drawled, "and they will only believe you because you grew up in the Galra Empire and—let me guess—accompanied Zarkon on his quest to make them your allies?" Scoffing, she rolled her glowing eyes. "Save your breath. I highly doubt they'd believe you."

Two taps came from from outside on the hull and they both got up looking down on the exiled prince. "Sorry about this pal," Darvah said, "but the Commander's life is worth more to us than yours. On your feet."

Taking the lead, Jaz strode down the ramp as Darvah trailed behind her pushing the prince.

"…Where is the Guardian?"

"What Guardian!? We don't know what you're talking about!" the small Green Paladin screamed at him. "We have Lotor, you have my father, now let's trade!"

"You were told to bring the Guardian as well," he growled.

"Look, we have no idea who he his alright!" Shiro pleaded, "So please, just give us Commander Holt, and we'll give you Lotor."

Even from where she stood, Jaz could see Zarkon's glowing eyes narrow in what she could probably guess was rage. It was only when his head slightly tilted up and she heard the sound of approaching engines, she realized he'd been trying to see something.

Turning to see what it was, Jaz's stomach immediately dropped. "Nid [no]," she whispered in horror recognizing the approaching Holborn Splint. No, no it couldn't be him! Why didn't Coran warn them of an approaching ship?! He wasn't supposed to be here!

From the corner of her eye, she could see Shiro, Matt, and Pidge egetting ready for a fight as the third ship arrived, hovering above the ground and jumping as a fully armed Titan materialized in front of them in a druidic-like burst of black smoke.

The ship flew away on its own, leaving its passenger behind.

Lotor was, surprisingly, the first to react, "DON'T DO THIS! THEY KNOW THE COALITION BENEFITS FROM HAVING YOU ON THEIR SIDE! DON'T GIVE YOURSELF UP TO THE GALRA!"

"I'm aware," Keith spoke, his voice sounding distorted through the helmet.

"Then why—?!"

"Because I can handle whatever they can dish out, he can't," the Guardian replied monotonely, before stepping forwards. "The commander! Hand him over!"

"You and Lotor cross at the same time," Zarkon said shoving Commander Holt forwards.

Keith motioned to Lotor, taking a few steps forwards before realizing that he wasn't being followed. Turning back, Jaz was well aware Keith could see she and Darvah holding the prince tighter, not wanting to trade off their friend, even if it meant getting Commander Holt back.

Her close friend's shoulders visibly slumped and he strode over. "Ziry'sos ecau [It's ok]."

Biting back a scream, Jaz reluctantly let Lotor go, watching as he and Keith started striding towards Zarkon.

"Stay alert, if Zarkon's gonna try something, now would be the time," Shiro whispered.

Keith meanwhile watched Commander Holt warily. For a man who hadn't seen either of his children in Lord knows how long, he seemed rather subdued.

Something wasn't right. This was too easy.

Eyes flickering to his scanner he observed the different life-signals around him. One to his right, Lotor. Five behind him, his friends. Five signals by the ship. But none approaching slightly to his left—wait, why would there be five life-signals at Zarkon's ship? There were only four of them visible…quiznak.

Without hesitation, Keith snapped around. He could faintly hear Katie's horrified scream out of the blood roaring in his ears, had the man been real his spine would've just been broken along with his ribcage, but instead his fist just harmlessly passed through.

Harshly grabbing Lotor's arm, Keith tossed him back, pulling out the autorifle strapped to his back and aiming it at the Galra entourage. "Give us the real Commander Holt and in exchange I won't kill you in every conceivable method I know."

Glowing eyes narrowed and Zarkon made a motion. In the back of the group, Zethrid gabbed something on the other side of the ship's entrance, yanking out a very startled looking Sam Holt. "Surrender Guardian and you may take his place."

"Guardian please, let me go, we have a plan," Lotor pleaded coming forwards next to the man.

He pushed Lotor back towards the Paladins. "You have three seconds to release him before I kill you," Keith hissed looking through his scope and getting Zarkon's head in his sights. "One…Two…"

"Very well," Zarkon said giving a motion and the generals shoved Sam Holt forwards.

Turning back towards the Galra Prince, Keith motioned with his gun. "Move."

Lotor nodded, walking forwards passed him and the Commander, not failing to notice the look of surprise on Sam's face as he saw him. Keith chewed the inside of his cheek, silently praying that he did not recognize his armor.

"Guardian!" Zarkon called and Keith turned. The emperor pointed to the ground by his side. "Here. Now."

"No."

Zarkon growled, taking a step forwards, "HOW DARE YOU—!" he was cut off as the ground exploded in dust behind him as Lotor held the black bayard, whipping it into his former generals before lunging at his father. The Galra Emperor skid along the ground looking up in a glare. "So the time has come. This ends today."

Keith was going to have a chat with Shiro later about giving away ones bayard. But for now, taking out Zarkon was the main priority.

/Zarkon's fleet is mobilizing!/ Coran called.

/Everyone get to your lions. We need to protect out team!/ Lance's voice ordered in the background.

"Shiro! Pidge! Get to the pod and fly Sam and Matt back up to the Castle a regroup with the others!" Darvah said. "They may need back-up against those ships."

"We'll help out down here, someone needs to keep those generals busy," Jaz added. Albeit reluctantly, Shiro and the others retreated, leaving Jaz and Darvah as they strode up to their friend. "Ful, fos gein dreh hi laan [So, which one do you want]?"

"Dalsesallu, Zu'u'fund med saak gein [Personally I'd like the big one]," Darvah answered puching both of his fists into his hand.

"Sah, Zu'u lorot faal sahqo geinro zos hin nelom [Nah, I think the red one's more your speed]," Keith snorted putting his hands on his hips. "Rek vis straag vonuz [She can turn invisible]."

"Ooh," Darvah made in interest. "Fos do daar: Zu'u kuz daar ziin, hi ofaal saak gein, ahrk Jaz kuz tir veysun [What about this: I take out those two, you get the big one, and Jaz takes out the ship]?"

Jaz nodded, once she was done she could give Darvah back-up if he needed it. "Zu'u med nii [I like it]."

Darvah was the first to move, teleporting in a flash of light, Lotor's ex-generals visibly jumped in surprise as he appeared behind them. Grabbing the red general's hair-thingy, he swung her around to hit one quiznaker with another quiznaker.

Both women skipped along the dusty earth like stones. Getting to their feet, they barely dodged as a barrage of fire came from the Eliksni's cannon. He teleported over, socking the blue general in the jaw before swinging towards the red one whom flipped back and turned invisible.

Darvah huffed, so that's why they wanted him to deal with her. Even though he could make out the slight distortion from her camouflage, he turned on the thermal imaging in his prosthetic eye. He aimed his cannon directly at her and fired.

"EZOR!" Zethrid called as she heard the smaller woman's cry of pain. Turning to see how she was, the massive completely forgot the Titan and Awoken she had been circling warily. The reminder came in the form of her opponent barreling into her like cannon shot.

Blood spurted past her lips as she felt something snap violently. Hopefully it wasn't anything important.

Rolling to her feet, she grabbed the being grappling with her and tossed them away. The Guardian landed on his back with a pained grunt, before leaping back to his feet fists up and ready. Zethrid grinned, she loved a good brawl.

Jaz watched her surroundings carefully, Darvah had done a good job of luring the first two generals away as Keith just tackled the other one. Looking in the direction of Zarkon and Lotor, she saw Zarkon hurl Lotor back before picking up a boulder and chunking it at him. Overall, seemed like his fight as going well. But the good news was that all of them were too occupied to get in her way.

Which was really good considering she didn't want anyone to mess up this spell. The repercussions would not be worth it.

Holding out a hand, she funneled energy into a concentrated center right in front of her. Taking a breath, she released it and fired. From a single pinprick of light a massive column of burning energy shot out, making a trench in the ground of its wake as it moved towards the ship. Firing through the craft, creating a massive hole, she stopped the attack as it hit the edge of the crater, almost blasting a hole through the mountain.

The ship blew up and the generals momentarily paused their fighting realizing their only means of transportation had been obliterated.

It was only then she felt a shift in the air. Something was wrong, glancing at Keith, she watched as the young Titan grabbed Zethrid's fist, his head snapping away from the fight in a different direction. Whatever it was, he sensed it too.

Her gaze following his, she realized what alarmed him, Zarkon. The tyrant's frame glew with quintessence, energy arching over his frame much like a Guardian's light and even rocks could be seen floating by him. This was bad.

Jaz grit her teeth, her magic may be weaker from that spell, but she could handle the big general. Charging over, she vaulted off of Keith's shoulders, kicking the general in the face, she rode the woman's massive frame to the ground, not being afraid to jump off her head into a crouch. This general may be stronger physically, but Jaz was stronger mentally and magically. Moving her hands in a familiar pattern, she couldn't help but smirk as the hybrid stood up, finding herself greeted with multiple duplicates of the same woman. Only one of which was real.

Lotor switched the bayard back to a bladed whip, his father going to be much more difficult to beat, he practically radiated energy in a way a Guardian would. Is that what the witch had been experimenting in? Guardian powers? Did she not realize how dangerous that was?!

Looking through the dust trying to pinpoint his location, Lotor turned just in time to be kicked in the face, sending him rolling across the valley. Springing to his feet, he swung his sword down towards Zarkon and horror spread across his face. Zarkon had grabbed the blade.

Swinging him like a ragdoll, Lotor was hurled across the field, and barely had any time to roll out of the way as Zarkon came down from above, activating the second charge of quintessence on where he'd previously been.

The impact wave knocked him off his feet. Getting up up, he once again found himself searching through the dust trying to pinpoint his opponent. Zarkon charged out, and Lotor readied his weapon. Almost as if in slow motion, Lotor watched as cracks slowly spread across his father's armor as a fist made contact, some pieces breaking off, then everything went back to regular speed as Zarkon was sent skidding along the ground. Stopping himself from sliding further, Zarkon lunged at the new target, throwing a punch that was easily dodged and repayed.

"Don't just stand there!" the Guardian snapped shoving the emperor back.

Shaking himself out of his surprise, Lotor decided to take advantage of this new opportunity. Watching as his father punched the ground where the Guardian had been, he made his move. Rushing out from the dust, he swung his blade through the back of the armor, no doubt where the quintessence and life-support systems were stored. Zarkon gasped, stumbling forwards as the precious liquid drained from the armor. But he wasn't dead yet.

Without a second thought Lotor drove his sword into Zarkon's back.


	38. Sorceress

Chapter 38

**A/N: once again folks, I just own this story and my OCs, nothing else is mine. And remember this is fanfiction so I can change what I want to make it my own. Isn't that why we all write/read this stuff in the first place?**

**Bold is intercoms**

**/comms/**

**_Flashbacks, dreams, telepathy (you know, the mental stuff)_**

Pidge, Matt and Sam stood with Ryner as they watched the construction of one of the defensive weapons. "Part of me misses my people's exile in the forest, but since Olkarion became the hub for refugees in this quadrant, it made sense that we should return to the city and turn it into the Coalition's capital."

"So much has changed so fast," Sam said admiring the work.

"For the better," Katie grinned.

"Yeah, well, Zarkon might be dead, but that doesn't mean we're done with this war yet," Matt reminded.

"That's why the Olkari are grateful Voltron is here until the defense systems are fully operational," Ryner stated. "I fear tumultuous times are upon us."

"Hey Ryner, I have a question," Pidge said, "have you ever heard of a Guardian?" She pulled up a photo she managed to snap of the mysterious person.

"By Lubos," she gasped. "I thought there were wiped out decapheobs ago! I can't believe you actually saw one."

"What are they?" Matt asked.

"The Guardians were a legion of warriors of many races, each carrying the unique ability to manipulate quintessence unlike anything else ever seen."

"So…like Druids?" Matt questioned raising an eyebrow.

Ryner chuckled. "From what I know from the legends, Guardians are more powerful; they can manipulate quintessence into solid weapons and were even said to be immortal. I remember hearing the tales of the mighty Hunters racing through the shadows and conquering the destroyers of life with their quintessence bows and arrows. However, I'm not an expert I would recommend asking an artifact broker or even perhaps Lotor."

"You know, I met a few at the Garrison," Sam commented.

"You what?!"

"Yes, the Awoken and Earth worked quite closely with them. However, the public was not aware of this close connection," he informed. "They're powerful, but friendly—at least the Fireteam I met were at least. However, let me say, if they didn't like you, you were sure to know. This one Guardian reprogrammed Iverson's computer to do nothing but yodel. We had to get him a new one."

"_They_ were responsible for the yodeling computer?!" Matt laughed. "By God, Shiro and I switched that computer with Iverson's so many times I think if we did it one more time he would've had an aneurism!"

"Please, that was programmer initiation when I went to the Garrison!" Pidge exclaimed almost doubling over. "My class made everything of Iverson's yodel for a month!"

"I'm so proud of you," Matt gushed.

"Though," Sam spoke up again, "if you really want to know about them I'd ask Jaz and Darvah."

The siblings glanced between each other in confusion. "Why them?"

"Well, the Awoken had been working with the Guardians for a long time, Jaz's mother is actually in charge of maintaining correspondence with them and many of Darvah's people have gone to war against them. Though, I do know one of their best childhood friends is a Guardian, same as his father—the Captain of the Fireteam I told you about. You know, he actually enrolled in the Garrison. Boy did that kid have a temper."

Pidge opened her mouth to ask more about this when her comms went off, /Pidge! C'mon we have a meeting at the Castle!/ Lance's voice broke through and the Green Paladin groaned. So much for more answers.

"I'll talking to you guys more later!"

Cursing her short limbs as she sprinted up she caught up with the others as they started entering an elevator to reach the bridge.

"Wait! Wait for me," she panted skidding in as Hunk held the door open.

"So how's your father?" Shiro asked.

"Oh, he's doing pretty good," she replied. "He's very excited to learn about Olkari tech."

"That's great," Shiro smiled looking relieved that her dad seemed to be doing alright.

"…Hey, Shiro?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you ever know about the Guardians?"

Dark brows furrowed and he looked at her perplexed. "No, why?"

"Dad, he told me he knew some, even said there was one at the Garrison," she stated and his brows shot up.

"What?!" Lance exclaimed.

Hunk interrupted before Lance could ask further, "If there really was one of these guys at the Garrison, do you think he knew? About all of this?"

"Who knows, from all the stories we're hearing it sounds like they have a lot of enemies," Shiro replied souding unsure himself.

"Well, Dad said to ask Jaz and Darvah," she informed. "He told me Jaz's mother works closely with them and that they even had a childhood friend who's a Guardian."

The elevator pinged as they reached their destination, effectively ending their current conversation. They walked out going to the bridge only to stop as the doors opened and they saw Lotor sitting there.

"Look, it's Prince Lotor just hangin' out on the bridge," Lance muttered.

"Guess this is a thing that's happening," Katie said.

"I suppose we'll just have to get used to it," Coran shrugged, "like my Zarbloovian intestinal eel."

A screech came from his stomach causing the Red and Green Paladins to take a step away.

Shiro walked forwards and stood across from Lotor. "What's going on?"

"The death of my father has created a power vacuum within the Galra Empire, soon the most formidable Galra leaders will be gathering for what's known as the Kral Zera at somepoint in the next two days to decide who will take the throne," Lotor explained. "We _must _be there."

"You want _us _to fly _you_ into the middle of a meeting with all of the most powerful Galra leaders?" Lance questioned.

"Can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm with Lance," Jaz scoffed. "How do we know this isn't a trap?"

"We don't," Darvah growled.

"Lotor, we appreciate all that you've sacrificed, but this sounds far too dangerous," Allura agreed.

"We've been in more dangerous situations with less to go on and much less to gain," Shiro pointed out. "Putting Lotor on the Galran throne is what we've been discussing."

"But no one told us that'd mean flying into a war zone," Pidge added.

"We can't plan an operation this important this quickly," Allura frowned.

"We don't exactly have a choice," Shiro stated.

"I agree with Allura, we need time to think this over," Lance agreed.

"This isn't your call Lance." Shiro looked away from Lance back to Allura, "The Coalition wouldn't be where it was now without Lotor, we need to listen to him."

"Well, I'm with Allura too," Pidge agreed. "This is too dangerous to pull off at the last minute."

"Agreed," Coran nodded.

"This isn't a vote, I'm the leader of Voltron, I'm making the decision," Shiro almost growled.

"Like when you armed Lotor with your bayard without consulting us?" Allura hissed.

"That's right! Making that decision resulted in Zarkon's death," Shiro stated.

"Shiro we kinda had help," Pidge reminded adjusting her glasses. "How do we know it would've working if that Guardian hadn't shown up?!"

"It doesn't matter! Zarkon's reign has been ended and I say we finish the job!"

"Shiro! This has all the hallmarks of a trap! Can't you see that?" Darvah pointed out.

"And can't you see we're going to squander a great opportunity?!" he snapped whirling on the Eliksni.

Lance stepped forwards to separate them. "Shiro, we're all on the same side here."

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY OUTTA THIS!" Shiro snapped, causing the Red Paladin to take a couple steps back in shock.

"While you all waste time squabbling, sinister forces are conspiring to fill the Galra power void," Lotor interjected. "If I do not return to claim the throne there's no telling who will."

"Then it's settled," Shiro said. "if this Kral Zera is happening we need to put Lotor on the throne immediately. Our hands are tied, the Kral Zera's happening. If we want to stop the Galra we need to put Lotor on the throne immediately."

"Takashi," Jaz said. Getting up from where she'd been leaning against one of the chairs, she strode over stopping only when an arm's length away from the Black Paladin. "This is a team, _not_ a dictatorship. Everyone's opinions on the situation at hand matters. And the majority has made its vote that this is too risky. So stop your whining," her gaze flickered to Lotor, "both of you. There's more than one way to skin a cat."

Shiro started to protest again when the alarms went off, making everyone scramble to their stations. **"Ryner hailing Castle of Lions."**

"Ryner, what was that?"

**"A meteor-like object struck the forest outside the city. We're detecting high-levels of an unknown toxin emanating from the impact site."**

"I'll check it out," Shiro volunteered quickly leaving the room.

Katie adjusted her glasses as she turned to Lotor. "So Lotor, on a change of subject, I have a question and I was told you might be the best person to ask about it."

The Galtean's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to her. "Well…whatever it is, I will try to answer the best as I can."

"What exactly is a Guardian?" she asked and all eyes turned to him in curiosity.

The prince seemed shocked. "You mean…you've never heard of them?" he questioned.

"Well, we've heard of them, but everything we've gotten his rumor and speculation," she replied. "I asked Ryner and she told me that they were a legion of warriors of many races who could manipulate quintessence. Dad actually told me they had a close alliance with Earth and the Awoken, said he even met a few. They were responsible for the yodeling computer."

"Ah, the memories," Darvah smiled.

Lotor raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty much the basics, from what we gathered Guardians appeared five to six thousand years ago, and they serve an ancient being known as the Traveler, whose sole purpose is to destroy the darkness plaguing the universe. They were known for their prowess on the battlefield; their abilities in trade, engineering, science, space-travel; and they were most certainly terrifying bounty-hunters and assassins. They could also speak numerous languages, their home city alone frequently spoke in at least seven different languages"

"So…they're like the Jedi?" Hunk asked and the prince looked at him in confusion. "They basically use their powers to bring balance to the universe and fight for good…minus the whole bounty-hunter/assassin thing."

"Essentially. Guardians are also immortal, believe it or not, I've seen one get crushed to death then a moment later he was walking around like everything was just dandy."

"So what kinds of things do they fight?" Lance asked.

"They primarily handle the Fallen, Vex, Cabal Empire, and the Hive," Lotor informed.

"That's a lotta enemies," Lance remarked.

"You're not wrong, the Guardians have no shortage of enemies that want to kill them."

"Wait…Vex," Allura repeated tapping her chin, "I want to say I heard Keith mention those once."

"And wait, alliance with the Awoken?" Hunk said and all eyes turned to Jaz and Darvah.

"Dad said you two were best friends with one?" Katie said and she didn't fail to notice that they glanced at each other.

"That is absolutely _none_ of your business," Jaz hissed.

"I disagree, it sounds like these guys could be pretty helpful to our cause," Allura said.

"Guardians are better for close quarters, on the ground combat," Darvah replied. "Besides, they have bigger fish to fry than Galra."

"What about the one we saw?" Pidge pressed.

"Probably just after the bounty Zarkon had on his head," Darvah stated crossing two of his arms. "Killing emperors pays a lot."

Lance raised his hand, "Am I the only one wondering how he knew where to find us?"

"There is something I wish to know as well, why did Keith know of the Vex when you all did not?" Allura questioned leaning her elbows onto her knees.

"Keith's dad worked with my mom, meaning he knows about all of this Guardian stuff," Jaz grumbled crossing her arms.

"Do you think he knows who that one we saw is? Or the one at our school?" Pidge pressed.

"Maybe, but I'd doubt he'd tell."

"Not that I blame him with the way Guardians were being hunted down and slaughtered," Darvah shivered.

Everyone's mouths snapped shut. _Slaughtered_, that's what was happening to them. No wonder the Guardian they saw had something to change his voice, so he couldn't be identified by it, not to mention they never saw his face, and his ship was so stealthy! Pidge could only wonder what kind of tech it had aboard to make it that quiet.

She sighed, as everyone began to disperse from the bridge, this was a lot to process. And for some reason, Katie knew there were pieces to the puzzle that she was still missing. But for now, against her curious nature, she yielded.

Walking towards the hangar she opened a channel to call Matt and her father, now would be the perfect time to give them a tour. And attempt to pry more answers out of her father.

-.-

Jaz rubbed her forehead. She lied, she blatantly lied to her team (minus Darv). The guilt was churning in her stomach, wanting to purge itself and explain everything. But she couldn't, because that would mean betraying Keith.

If he wanted the others to know, he would've told them. Pit, she knew he wanted to tell them, and would have already if it weren't for his fears. She used to find them irrational, but now…Jaz could admit, Keith had a point, enemies both new and old would have been after them.

And that was what worried her now. The Galra were likely already aware of who Keith was, and now everyone else was dangerously close to connecting all the dots. Quiznak! They'd been doing so well on keeping their secret too!

Jaz got up and began pacing the floor of her room. There had to be a way outta this, some way to distract Pidge or make her forget it altogether. The more her team learned about Guardians, the more they would want to know about their enemies. And that would damn them to a hole they would never crawl out of both figuratively and literally.

The Paladins, they didn't have special powers. They couldn't do magic like she could, they couldn't teleport at will or turn any piece of technology into a weapon like Darvah, they couldn't manipulate quintessence or revive like Keith could. No, they would be slaughtered before they even reached the first major fight of a mission.

Jaz could see it, Pidge would be first. She was too curious for her own good. It would be likely that she would try to inspect something that she shouldn't, or her spade would be caught and she'd be dragged over to her death. The electricity attacks barely making a dent in the larger attackers as they tore the feisty girl apart.

Shiro would be second. He was phenomenal in combat, but unfortunately it was close combat. Distance attackers closing in from all sides would destroy him, as would enemies that could heal themselves and teleport. But what would really kill him, would be his protective nature. Likely in an effort to protect the girl he viewed as a little sister, Shiro would rush over, getting himself killed in vain to save her.

Allura would likely be next. The enemy would see her as a threat. She was strong, she could use magic, she could manipulate quintessence, but Jaz had yet to see her weaponize it. That fact, would be her downfall. With only a whip as her defense, all of Allura's light would be sucked out of her until she was nothing but a withered husk as more powerful magic users and distance attackers converged on her.

After that would be the sweetest member of the team, Hunk. He had a cannon, which would protect him from a distance and could possibly take down larger enemies, but he was no match for a sniper. Or worse, he would be distraught by the deaths of their friends, leaving him open to be attacked by something much bigger than he would be emotionally prepared to handle. Jaz clenched her fists, clearly imagining the tears streaming down his face as he pleaded fruitlessly for the monsters to spare them all before he too perished violently.

Lance…Lance would be the last person to die. While off the field he could be a goof, on the field Jaz would admit he had matured and become better. He was an excellent sniper, making him difficult prey to attack. But, unless Lance learned how to fight magic and multiple enemies in close combat, he would die when they found him. And Jaz sadly knew, the Red Paladin would blame himself for the deaths of his friends. Lance would go to the grave with guilt he had no right to bear.

Falling to her knees, she put her head in her hands, they were all just quiznaking _kids_! They didn't need the weight of the universe on their shoulders! They should be at home, safe with their loved ones enjoying their childhoods. Instead, they were out here, far from home with a high chance that they might never get to see it again.

Wiping her tears, Jaz slammed her fist on the ground. No, as long as she was still breathing she would protect them. She would keep the true darkness festering in the universe from corrupting and harming her friends. She would keep them focused on the Galra, and once they were done, would lead them away, back to Earth where they _never_ would have to deal with this _ever_ again.

Jazmyne Raven Venj would _make _it happen, one way or another.

Hearing the alarms go off she got up and raced towards the bridge.

-.-

"What's happening?!" Jaz called running up to Coran, Darvah, Sam, and Matt in tow.

"The forest appears to have come alive and is attacking the city."

"Well, that's a first."

"Where are the lions?" Sam asked.

"I've already sent them to assist Shiro. He's battling something in the forest."

"So, we're on our own, fantastic."

/Ryner, what is it we're looking at here?/ Pidge questioned sending an image to both the Olkari and the Castle.

/I don't believe it, it looks like one of our tree mechs!/

/It must have something to do with whatever's emanating from the impact site/

/It appears to be some sort of invasive plasma/ Pidge noted, /Coran, have the others analyze the data I'm sending/

"On it," he replied pulling up the data and stepping aside to let Darvah, Sam, and Matt through.

"Well, she's right about it being some sort of invasice plasma," Matt muttered.

"I've never seen anything like this," Sam muttered.

Narrowing his eyes, Darvah zoomed in, "Reminds me of the SIVA virus, it can intergrate with both technology and organic matter, programming it to suit its own needs."

"It's like a computer virus," Matt added. "That plasma substance looks like some sort of self-replicating organic wetware, which creates an expanding system."

"Giving it the ability to interface with both technology and nature like how the Olkari do," Darvah finished as they high-fived.

/It's like a computer and a virus rolled into one/ Pidge said.

/Ryner, is the ion cannon operational?/ Shiro called.

/No, it's still not finished. At best it can manage one shot/

/Then make it count, cause that thing's headed your way!/

All heads turned to the window, and they watched as the cannon began to power up. energy began to build up at the center as it prepared to fire, only for it to fizzle out as whatever was affecting everything else reached it.

/No! The ion cannon! All of our systems, they've been compromised!/

/Jaz!/ Shiro called. /Do what you can to stop that thing! We'll try to break out to help!/

"Quiznak! Now Voltron's offline!" Coran cursed.

"If it's like a computer, there must be a way to hack into it and shut it down," Sam realized.

"You guys figure that out, I'll buy you time!" Jaz called sprinting out of the bridge. Skipping steps on her way down, she stopped by her room, grabbing a short sword she managed to smuggle from the Castle's armory. Escaping the Castle Jaz haulted in her tracks trying to figure out where her target was. The best way to do that would be to get higher.

Running out of the protection of the particle barrier, she sprinted for the nearest building. Fortunately, this attack gave her the perfect way to climb up to the roof; grabbing onto the vines, she began climbing, only stopping to reaffirm her grip when one of the vines she held onto slipped.

It didn't take her too long to reach the top, nor did it take long to find her target. It was hard to miss. The mecha rolled towards the city, likely heading to take out the biggest threat: the ion cannon.

Stretching out her hands, she made the familiar motion of the line, forming the attack spheres and thrust them forwards. The orbs wove through the buildings, heading straight for their target.

The first two caught the thing off guard, sending it rolling and screeching to a hault. The third one it, sending it rolling again, but this time it landed right-side up. Powering up its cannon, the robeast fired, oblitering her last two orbs.

Gritting her teeth as its cannon began charging, Jaz prepared her latest spell, the same one she used to destroy Zarkon's ship during the exchange. The small ball of energy burst to life in her hands, firing a column of white-hot fire towards the attacking mecha.

The opposing blasts met with equal force, and Jaz could feel her feet slightly slide back from the shockwave. Sweat was already building on her brow as she continued to maintain her assault. Sooner or later, one of them was going to give.

Hopefully it wasn't her.

-.-

"I'm trying to interface with the vines to stop their growth," Ryner explained as the trio joined her, "but I can't communicate with the nano-cellulose."

"We don't need to stop it, we just need to reroute it," Matt stated and the Olkari leader nodded.

"Grab a headpiece, show me."

An explosion shook the building and they all looked out to see two massive columns of energy, one violet one light blue, collide violently shoving against each other in a stalemate.

"That must be Jaz. We need to hurry." Darvah ran over, coming back with three headpieces and handing them out. Everyone put them on, and they put a hand on the plants.

"Follow my lead," Matt said.

All focusing, they carefully began reprogramming the virus, rerouting it towards the ion cannon. Not to stop it, but to charge it.

"It's working!" Ryner called and they all focused harder. "Ion cannon at thirty percent…seventy percent. Target acquired. Ninety-five percent, preparing to fire."

They could all feel a charge in the air, but didn't stop their efforts until they heard the blast.

"Galra ship, down! Voltron's out of the tractor beam!"

-.-

Jaz's knee slammed into the ground as she struggled to maintain the stalemate. She wasn't sure how much longer she could maintain this spell, but she couldn't give up. She had to keep fighting, for her friends, her family. If that thing got loose, then all of the sacrifices they made would be for nothing.

With renewed vigor, Jaz screamed as she forced herself back up and everything erupted into white light.

-.-

"Holy cow," Lance breathed as he watched a torrent of white energy rip the robeast apart. "Was that the ion cannon?"

/No, it came from a different direction than the cannon/ Pidge replied sounding confused.

/Maybe it was Coran and the Castle?/ Hunk suggested.

/No/ Shiro spoke quietly. /I've only seen that much power once before. It's Jaz/


	39. Guardian

Chapter 39

**A/N: alrighty, so was last chapter fun or what? Well anyways, I'm sure y'all wanna know how our favorite Awoken mage is doing after that event. So I won't waste your time here. As usual, I just own this story and my OCs.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is video calls/intercoms"**

**_Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

Keith frowned staring down at the Galra soldiers passing under.

"How are we going to get there?"

"I'm working on it."

_"Keith, the crates, like what Shiro and Allura did?"_ Yorak suggested.

"Guys, what if we hid in the crates?" he offered at his partners looked at him. He couldn't see their expressions due to the masks, but he knew there was confusion. "So they already know what everything inside is right? If we hide inside one then we could sneak on without raising any suspicion."

The leader of the small group nodded pulling up a monitor.

"That's our target, as soon as it docks, we go."

Keith nodded and watched the soldiers pass under them, once they were gone the group of three silently dropped down. Running into the storage room, they looked at the boxes.

"You sure this is going to work?"

Keith chuckled. "Trust me, it will," he said.

Using his knife, he pried the lip off and they removed the contents, hiding them in different containers to avoid suspicion, before squeezing in. It was a tight fit for three Blades, but since Keith was so much smaller compared to them at least it wasn't too tight in his box.

The boxes began to move and before long they stopped. Sitting quietly inside the small group waited till they heard the doors close before using their blades to slice through the sides and crawl out.

"Good tip Earthling."

A blaster activated and the group pulled out their swords to see an officer aiming a blaster at them. He lowered his weapon and stood straight. "Follow me," he said leading them down a hall, he peered around the corner waving the forwards into an empty room.

"This shaft will take you directly above the bridge," he informed.

"Thank you, brother."

"The Archivist is taking too long to start the ceremony," a voice echoed from down the hall.

"The Archivist?" Keith questioned. Was it like the Speaker back at the tower?

"Hurry," the spy said and the three quickly climbed up into the vents as the door began opening with the ranting commander at the lead.

"If it waits any longer, the empire will descend into chaos."

_"We need to find out who this Archivist is_," his ghost stated. _"I'll hack and gather as much intel as I can find."_

-.-

"I'm telling you, Branko's wanton attack was only the beginning," Lotor spoke as everyone gathered on the bridge. "Without an emperor, more and more high-ranking officials are going to start lashing out and consolidating their power at the Kral Zera."

"Just jumping in here," Hunk interrupted, "What exactly is the Kral Zera? Is there food there? It sounds awful fancy."

"It's the coronation ceremony of a new emperor or empress. It is held on on of the first planets we, the Galra, conquered: Planet Feyiv, a sacred land."

"Ok, so who all will be at this Kral Zera?" Shiro inquired.

"Allow me to show you," Lotor smiled before turning to Allura. "May I, Princess?"

"Go ahead."

Lotor stepped up to the monitor and started pulling up images. The first to appear was of a massive Galra about the size of Sendak, he had two horns on his chin, light violet fur with darker stripes, curved ears, and one of his eyes was a cybernetic.

"Warlord Ranveig, he's one of the most vicious Galra in the empire," Lotor began, It's why my father sent him to the fringes of the universe. There will already be several factions pledging their allegiance to him."

"Warlord huh?" Lance grumbled. "Guess that's not a title gotten by being nice."

Another image appeared, this of a female with light fur, strange crests on her head, and pointed ears.

"Commander Gnov, she was one of Zarkon's most trusted advisors. She will be the one unifying Zarkon's inner circle of commanders, they know what they'll be getting with her," Lotor stated. "She may not be as reckless as Ranveig, but she's just as cruel."

A short overweight Galra male appeared, appearing to have a cybernetic visor over his eyes.

"This is Quartermaster Janka," Lotor introduced, "he's responsible for overseeing supply routes throughout the empire. Don't let his stature fool you, his power is bureaucracy and he cannot be underestimated."

"He keeps popping up in my database," Katie commented, "his supply-chain management is incredible. He definitely color codes."

"So…organized evil."

"And finally, Zarkon's witch, Haggar," Lotor continued making all the Paladins glower as the image of the witch appeared.

"We've met," Shiro growled as the others made similar sounds of affirmation.

"She'll be the most dangerous of them all, because she's not Galra she won't be eligible to take the throne, however, she probably already has a puppet ready. Someone she can control and manipulate. If the Galra were smart, they'd be working together against her. If that puppet takes over than ending Zarkon's reign would've been all for naught."

"Then we can't risk any of them assuming control," Shiro stated turning to Allura. "We should help Lotor take over the empire."

"Shiro, we've already discussed this, it's far too risky," the Princess answered.

"Why don't we let them fight amongst themselves for a little while before we do anything?" Lance smiled going up next to Allura.

"You all know what we just went through on Olkarion, and that was just one rouge commander vying for the throne," Shiro reminded. "When the Galra lash out everyone in the universe suffers."

"How would we even get Lotor there without causing a fight?" Pidge questioned.

"I'll be bringing Voltron," Lotor replied casually.

"Yeah," Hunk said rolling his eyes, "because Voltron _never_ gets in fights."

"Shiro, we can't," Allura replied.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Shiro said narrowing his eyes and striding from the room.

"What's with Shiro?" Hunk questioned.

"I wish I knew," Allura sighed. "If only Jaz was here."

"Speaking of her, how is she?" Lotor inquired.

"Recovering, but Coran says her vitals are still dangerously low. She'll be in the healing pod for at least a few more days," Allura answered crossing her arms as the others looked down.

-.-

Keith frowned as he processed the information his ghost gave him about the commanders attending, from what it sounded like they were all going to be difficult to handle if the plan went awry. No way the three blades would be able to fight them alone.

"The Archivist has light the summons," Ranveig practically purred. "Set a course for Feyiv. It is time for me to burn with the glory of Kral Zera and take my place on the Galra throne."

_"Oh, you'll burn alright, may not be in glory, but you'll burn,"_ Yorak chuckled maniacally.

"This is our time to strike," Ilun resolved, "we will bring down the empire in one fell swoop."

The ships descended towards the surface and Keith could see the burning violet flame and dozens of Galra gathered below.

"Alright, when we go down there, set one explosive on each load bearing beam."

Hopping off the ship, they rolled to their feet and sprinted into the building without being spotted.

The halls were deserted as they ran from pillar to pillar, setting the charges as they went before sprinting up the steps.

Getting towards their exit they set the last few charges on the beams.

/Activating the timers. Let's go!/ Ilun said as they sprinted out their exits and onto the dark gray rocks.

Hearing a familiar roar, Keith skid to a stop, to his horror, he turned to see the Black Lion landing. "Shiro…" he whispered. No, no, he shouldn't be here. Why was he here?! "Ilun! Vrek! We have to stop the Black Paladin is there!"

/It's too late! The bombs are armed and the timer is set! The operation is a go/ she replied.

"Quiznack!" he snarled sprinting back inside. "Yorak!"

"Yes?" he asked appearing over Keith's hand.

"Help me deactivate these bombs," he ordered.

"On it!" he replied floating over to one side as Keith sprinted over to the other and they began deactivating as fast as they could.

Going to another bomb, Keith and his ghost came to a halt as the other two blades rounded the corner.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WE HAVE TO GO!" Ilun snapped before her gaze rested on the small thing floating next to their most reckless member.

"Is that...is that what I think it is?" Vrek began.

"Draaf," Keith cursed.

-.-

"Hunk, why are you single modulating the gendocam?" Pidge questioned as she glared at the other Paladin as they sat in the medbay.

"Relax Pidge, it's a gendocam not a vlexagane, single modulation is fine."

"You should double modulate everything."

Hunk scoffed, "Are you crazy? That's a waste of a button press."

"Sorry to interrupt," Sam greeted as he joined the pair.

"Hey Dad, real quick. How do you reconfigure a gendocam?" Pidge questioned.

"Well, you start by double modulating—" her father started, cut off by Pidge's cheer.

"HA! I TOLD YOU!"

Seeing the boy's glare, Sam couldn't help but smile. "Ah, madulating arguments. That's how your mother and I met," he mused and chuckled inwardsly at his daughter's embarrassed grimace. "Anyways, have either of you seen Shiro? I wanna go over my report for the Galaxy Garrison one last time before I leave."

"I haven't seen him since he stormed off the bridge."

"I've never seen him like that," Hunk commented before turning to the healing pod they sat by. "Jaz? Have you seen him recently?" The unconscious woman made no move to answer, not that they really expected her to right now. "Thought so, but you would have to say he's been acting weird, almost as weird as _double modulating_."

Opening a vid-screen, Pidge called up to the bridge.

**"Hello Pidge,"** Allura greeted. **"Is something wrong with Jaz?"**

"What? Oh, no she's stable still," Pidge answered realizing Allura thought she was calling cause something was wrong. "But do you know where Shiro is?"

**"Let me check…He isn't on the ship. His lion's gone too!"** Allura exclaimed. **"Where's Lotor? Have either of you seen him?"**

"No."

-.-

"You're…you're a…" Vrek stumbled, seeming having trouble forming a sentence.

"We can't let you stay here," Ilun said stepping towards him, "Guardian."

"You can't stop me, Shiro and Lotor are up there, I'm not going to sit back and let them die!" he snarled turning to the other two blades he dropped his hood and glared at them. "Yorak, mask."

"Copy!" the ghost called and Keith shifted his shoulders to adjust to the weight of his armor.

"You two wait at the rendezvous point, I'll meet you guys there," he stated. "For now, its best they don't know the Marmora were involved."

"You do understand that we want answers," Ilun said.

"I'll give them to you when this is over," Keith replied putting on his helmet.

The two other blades nodded and took off.

"How much time do we have," Keith asked getting to work again.

"Not as much as I'd like," the ghost replied. "I don't think we're going to be able to get them all."

Keith looked away from the one he finished and frowned; Yorak was right. "Let's go!" he said and the small light vanished rejoining Keith as they sprinted down the hall towards the stairs leading towards the battle area. "How long till the bombs go off?"

_"We have less than a minute."_

"Great!" he said sprinting up the stairs. Hearing explosions behind him, he shot out the door, tackling Lotor on his way out. The duo painfully bounced down the stairs, and Keith was grateful he chose to wear his thicker armor, otherwise he'd be in a lot more pain.

"LOTOR HAS BETRAYED US TO VOLTRON! FIRE ON THE BLACK LION!" Sendak screamed bursting out of some of the rubble.

"He's still alive?" Keith muttered, didn't they eject him into space?

The Black Lion moved as ships began firing on it, flying up into the air.

Keith got to his feet, pulling out his Crown Splitter sword he gazed warily at the at the commanders who seemed stunned by his presence, all except Haggar.

"Tell me Guardian," the witch spoke, her voice echoing over them, "what possesses you to betray your kind? You have Galra blood in your veins, do you vie for the throne?" Several of the contenders shifted at the implications of her words, silently praying he wasn't there to compete for the throne, they'd all be killed if he was.

"No, I merely seek your death, Wizard," he snarled. Lunging at Haggar, Keith ducked a shot sent by one of Lotor's ex-generals, which quickly hit another soldier, causing more infighting to occur as everything broke into chaos. Slashing at Haggar, he growled as she vanished in shadows.

"This is exactly what I wanted to avoid, I knew they'd all turn on each other," Lotor hissed as he stood next to the Guardian.

"Fight now, complain later," Keith replied shoving Lotor out of the way as Sendak leapt at them. Skidding back, Keith caught movement in the corner of his eye, whipping around, his blade clashed against an axe of a Galra woman with strange crests on her head. He didn't remember her name, nor did he care, he just needed her dead.

Leaping back to avoid another of her swings, Keith found himself unarmed as he miscalculated the angle of her toss, the end of her axe hitting his sword as he moved to switch hands. Whatever, he didn't need a sword to kill her anyways. Getting to his feet, he sprinted at her. The woman swung her axe again, but now with both hands free, Keith caught it and flipped her over his shoulder, hurling her down the stairs. Leaping after her, he landed on the commander, and she coughed up blood at the impact.

The last thing she ever saw was a Titan's fist coming down towards her skull.

His impact made a crater in the ground, making several of the fighting groups look at him as he stood up, still covered in the blood of his enemy. His head turned towards the witch, and he reached down to his waist, grabbing the Marmora knife off and changing it to its sword form.

"What do we do?" Zethrid questioned.

"We're leaving," Haggar said, "the empire has fallen." The female generals nodded as she quickly teleported them all back to their ship, no one wanted to be on the brunt end of a Titan's wrath.

Keith stabbed through another soldier who dared to step in his path with his Marmora blade and growled, she escaped. Rushing up the steps, he yanked his primary sword out of her perch and looked up. Voltron was now in the sky, guess some of the others were waiting nearby.

"Sendak!" Lotor snarled and Keith turned raising his blades. The massive Galra lifted a hunk of earth out, throwing it into the air, he used his arm cannon to fire at it creating a massive cloud of dust. When it cleared, he was gone.

Lotor then turned to him raising his sword. "Are you here to challenge for the throne?"

Keith put his mother's knife away and put his sword on his back. "No. It's all yours."

Looking relieved, he strode over and took a torch. Lotor began walking up the steps his father had once walked in his quest for power. Setting the burning end of the torch in the oil, he watched the violet fire rise up to the perch of the eternal flame.

"The flame is lit," the Archivist declared, "bow to your emperor." The Galra that remained looked at each other for a moment before bowing as the Voltron lions landed, shaking the ground.

Keith sighed, at least this entire train wreck had some good come out of it, but now it was time to face the music.

"Good job Lotor!" Hunk cheered as he and the other Paladins ran up, only slowing to a stop as they saw the bloodstained Guardian walking past.

Keith silently prayed that they wouldn't glance at the knife on his belt, otherwise he'd be recognized for certain. He didn't stop to make eye contact, only walking right out of the area to head to the rendezvous point.

"Hey!"

Silently cursing, Keith stopped and looked back to see Shiro and the other Paladins jogging towards him. "What do you want?"

"We just wanted to talk," Shiro said. "What were you doing here?"

"Why do you care?"

"We'd like to offer an alliance, Guardian. I am Princess Allura, the Blue Paladin of Voltron," Allura said stepping forwards. "We are aware your people are more adept at other enemies that are of no doubt a threat to this universe. But we could really use your assistance in removing one of those threats. The Galra have been expanding for ten thousand years, destroying planets and countless lives in their conquest. We only wish to stop them, and free the peoples they have enslaved and the worlds they have conquered."

"You seem to be doing fine. Zarkon is dead is he not?"

"Well, yes," Allura confessed.

"Then I'll have to pass. You all seem to have things under control," Keith said.

"It is his witch and the Galra that will no doubt rebel against my rule who will still be a threat," Lotor interjected.

"We would offer you a place to stay," Allura added. "I'm sure travelling around in your ship uses a lot of energy and must be expensive."

"Yeah, when was the last time you had a decent meal?" Hunk inquired. "I can cook some pretty awesome food if I do say so myself."

"You could totally hang with us," Lance grinned, "we've got a ton of spare rooms, a training deck, a hanger you can store your ship in, library, food, and there's even a pool! And we could compete to see who the better sharpshooter is, I have to say I'm pretty awesome myself, it'll take a lot to beat me."

"No thanks."

"We'd all be happy to let you join us, fighting in a team is better than fighting alone," Shiro voiced, "we are fighting against the same foes. I'm sure whatever missions you have you could get at the Castle. It would probably save you a lot of trouble."

"Yeah, I bet we'd have tons of fun!" Lance grinned. "Think about it! You'd get to fight alongside Voltron!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME I SAID NO!" he snapped. "I have no interest in being used as anyone's weapon anymore, and if you were wise, you'd stay away from me!"

Whirling on his heel Keith stormed away from them, hoping they got the message. The further they stayed away from him the better, and the less they knew about his Guardian status, the easier it would be for him to simply disappear. The way he was supposed to.

Guardians weren't supposed to make bonds with non-Guardians, not many listened to the rule anyways, but they all suffered the consequences in the end. They lived on, the loved one did not. Keith was foolish to think that rule had changed just because the Tower was gone.

Breaking into a sprint, he navigated the dark, rocky landscape, making sure he wasn't being followed as they arrived at the small hidden hangar of ships for those who were stationed on this base.

"We were starting to worry," Ilun said as Keith came into view, dropping his helmet.

"The Paladins attempted to have a conversation," he replied curtly.

"Wait, they don't know?" Vrek questioned in obvious confusion.

"You're the first people to know, besides Zarkon's witch, she figured me out when I escaped," he stated before giving them a firm glare. "And Voltron is not going to find out, am I clear?"

"Why?"

"The less they know the better," he said walking over to a fighter and hopping in. "Are you guys coming?"

The two other blades nodded, climbing in, before they headed back to base, where they were going to get some answers.

-.-

Kolivan stood in the hangar waiting for the team sent to the Kral Zera to return, Ilun had called stating the mission had been completed, however, that there had been complications, as well as several pieces of news he needed to hear.

The doors opened as the ship flew in, considering it wasn't speeding in it was probably Ilun or Vrek piloting considering Keith tended to almost give several of the deck-hands heart attacks. The youngster had caused a few fires before during his landings.

The ship landed and the doors opened as Ilun and Vrek walked out of the ship. "Where's Keith?"

"Not dead if that's what you mean," Vrek stated crossing his arms. "Not like he can die anyways."

Kolivan's brows furrowed at the statement. Sure while the boy was incredibly reckless and by some miracle managed to frequently escape unscathed, no Blade would say someone was invincible.

"He's on the ship," Ilun stated.

"So what occurred at Kral Zera?"

"As suspected many were vying for the throne, Haggar chose to use Sendak as her chosen puppet."

"Sendak is still alive?"

"Apparently," Vrek grumbled.

"Lotor and the Black Paladin came as well."

"They weren't harmed in the explosion, were they?" Kolivan questioned, if Shiro ended up hurt then that could seriously damage the Blade's standings with Voltron.

"No, Keith saw to that, he deactivated a large portion of the bombs, resulting in less damage."

"Anything else?"

"Two more things sir, first off Lotor won and took the throne," Ilun continued, "he already has established his alliance with Voltron and the Coalition."

Kolivan nodded. "Factions of the empire will not be so willing to accept his rule."

"Several factions have already declared war sir," Vrek informed.

"And the second piece?"

"Keith!" Ilun called.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," he called from in the ship.

The sound of someone walking echoed from the ship, and Kolivan frowned, it was too loud to be from their Marmora gear, those were specifically designed to be as stealthy as possible…unless Keith stole a guard's uniform again.

"Did you at least…" Keith trailed off as he stepped out, wearing black and red armor with a grey and black sash hanging from his waist. The young Guardian looked at Kolivan's face for a few moments before giving a deadpan look to the other two Blades, not even caring other members around the room were stopping to stare. "You didn't warn him, did you?"


	40. Revelations

Chapter 40

**A/N: ok, next chapter! Isn't that exciting? Hope y'all're enjoying the story so far. I'm having fun writing it. Now, just FYI, this chapter is more of a filler to give some background that I'm sure you're all eager to figure out.**

**I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender or Destiny, just my OCs.**

**/comms/**

**Bolt is intercoms/vid-chats**

**_Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

Keith leaned against the wall casually as he and Kolivan entered what Keith assumed to be Kolivan's private office. Most of the time whenever he met up with the Blade leader, he was out in the mission control and briefing room. Thankfully, while to most this would be intimidating, it would be nothing like being summoned by both an angry Ikora and a completely exasperated Zavala for pulling something stupid, or worse, being summoned by the Speaker after doing something stupid.

Keith could still remember hearing that stupid whistle tune they all did when he and a few of his friends were summoned by the Speaker after "accidently" stealing Cayde's sparrow and driving off the tower walls after he failed to keep his promise about taking them to one of Fireteam Islands...did he mention they ran over Cayde in the process and stole his lunch at the same time?

However, despite the fact Keith didn't feel intimidated, that didn't mean the situation wasn't awkward in the slightest.

"When did this happen?"

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Keith looked up to see Kolivan scrutinizing him. "Huh?"

"How long have you been a Guardian?" he stated rephrasing the question.

"My whole life," Keith shrugged, "I'm a Kiin."

If the leader of the Blade was surprised, it didn't show considering Kolivan's resting bitch face remained firmly in place. "And were you ever going to tell us?" he said, a slight shift in his tone saying he was either very frustrated or currently trying not to kill Keith, possibly a combination of both.

"If things had gone according to plan, then no one would have ever found out," Keith stated, shrugged his shoulders.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Besides, Jaz, Darvah, and probably the entire Blade by now…Haggar, and I think a few of the Generals?" Keith frowned, how many did know by now? The Galra were obviously trying to keep it on the down low, but who knows how many of his higher ups Zarkon told.

"WHAT?!"

"Not like I was trying to give it away! That wizard just showed up at the wrong time! She put the puzzle together herself," Keith hissed crossing his arms. "Don't know how considering I had my ghost erase almost all the footage, but she did!"

Kolivan was silent for a moment, his ears partially pinned back in anger. "Keith, you're not going to go on any missions for a while."

"WHAT?! Kolivan, I can't just sit back and do nothing!"

"You're going to have to, you're an asset we cannot afford to lose."

"I'm immortal! You're not going to lose me!" Keith exclaimed tossing his hands in the air.

"That doesn't mean you can't be captured!"

"Then I'll break out again like I did last time! They don't have anything that can hold me! The Glara Empire isn't proficient enough in containing Guardians, not like the Hive and Vex."

"It doesn't matter, you're confined to base until further notice."

"You really think I can't just sneak out?"

"You really doubt that Voltron will come and drag you back if I contact them?" Kolivan threatened, watching the young Guardian scowl.

"Fine! I agree to this…temporary break, and you agree not to tell Voltron or the Coalition, deal!"

Kolivan frowned at that, he knew the former Paladin considered Voltron to be his family, so why did the prospect of them coming after him seem to terrify him so? "You don't want them to know?"

"Trust me, it's better if they don't," Keith scoffed. "For now they just have to focus on handling the warring factions of the Galra, they don't need to be concerned with the Cabal, Vex, or Hive at the same time."

There was more to it than that, Kolivan was certain, however, it seemed like Keith would be unwilling to give anything more no matter how hard he pushed. Guardians, especially Titans, were stubborn that way. "Very well, I'll agree to your terms if you would be willing to teach a few courses on how to handle Hive and Vex should our men encounter them on any missions," Kolivan yielded.

"Deal, but you're going to have to expand your weapons arsenal to more than blades. Trust me, a sword won't do much against the Vex. Luckily, I think I know someone who'd be willing to get me the stuff, but I'll have to make the trade myself."

-.-

"I can't believe we're flying into the belly of the beast," Lance said as the Castle flew up towards the hangar in the Galra Central Command.

"Strange to thin that the last time we were here we were fighting the Galra," Hunk mused, "now we're working with them."

"We have to do everything we can to support Lotor," Allura stated as the Castle landed. "This is our chance to promote a new era of peace."

They all nodded, before walking out of the ship where a Galra woman was waiting in a red dress. "I am Tarin, Emperor Lotor asked me to escort you," she said with a bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tarin," Allura greeted warmly and the Galra smiled back.

"You as well Princess. Follow me," she said leading the way.

"So…what is it you do for Lotor?" Hunk asked trying to break the silence.

"I'm a liaison," she smiled, "specifically, I communicate with sellers of rare artifacts that have historical significance. I determine if it's something the empire needs in its collection and then buy it for the Emperor."

"So have you found anything cool recently?" Lance asked.

"Perhaps I'll show you later," she replied. "Recently I procured a very rare Guardian handcannon as well as a complete set of Guardian Cerimonial armor for one of their specific holidays from a first-time seller, whose now an exclusive to me only. I look forwards to anything he might sell next."

The Galra woman stepped aside as they came to a set of doors. Placing her hand on the pad, the doors opened revealing Lotor standing at the bottom of the steps between two guards. On either side of the room a line of sentries stood, and just above the throne hung a large violet, gold and white banner.

"Thank you for coming my friends," Lotor smiled widely as they entered. "As you can see, I've prepared a new imperial banner in honor of our alliance. This is the same symbol that flew over our fathers when they worked together as the original Voltron Paladins. I hope that we can return the universe to that golden age. since I ascended to the throne, the Galra empire has been torn apart. A sizeable portion has already sworn its allegiance to me, however, massive factions remain in revolt."

"Uh, ok, the Glara aren't exactly known to turn the other cheek," Hunk commented.

"They're more likely to swing the other fist," Lance finished.

"How do you get an empire that's only known violence for thousands of years to put down their weapons?" Shiro questioned.

"By providing them with the very thing they're fighting for," Lotor replied stepping towards them. "Quintessence. Unlimited amounts out it. and Allura, you're the key to getting it." He turned away from the princess to look to the other Paladins. "I'm sure you're interested in inspecting every aspect of the Galra Headquarters."

"I'd like to cross-reference our star charts with current Galra troop locations," Shiro answered.

"Consider it done."

"You want to sync our intelligence to their headquarters?" Coran asked raising an eyebrow. "Never thought I'd see the quiznaking quintant."

"I can have a sentry take you to the record room," Lotor began only to yelp as Tarin pulled on his ear.

"Really? You invite guests over and don't offer them anything? You want to get straight to work? I'm sure we were raised better than that Lotor," she scolded crossing her arms.

"Tarin! I'm certain they want to get started as well!"

She raised an eyebrow. "How do you know? You didn't ask! For all you know they could be tired from their long trip, or hungry!" A sly grin came to her face, "What would Dayak think?"

At that name, Lotor visibly paled. "You wouldn't!"

The Galra woman just grinned wickedly, "Try me."

Lotor's eyes narrowed as they stood in a stalemate before Lotor inevitably yielded. "Very well, I'm certain all of you would enjoy some refreshments and rest after your long journey?"

"Actually, that doesn't sound too bad," Lance shrugged as Pidge and Hunk nodded in agreement mubling about needing food and sleep.

"In fact, while dinner is being prepared, we can give you a tour," Lotor offered and everyone nodded. They didn't want to get lost.

"Have fun with that," Tarin said typing on a pad as she walked away.

Lotor's jaw dropped and he looked affronted. "Where do you think you're going?!"

"I just received word from one of my exclusive sellers that he has procured something of high value that'd I'd be very interested to see. And if I don't make a reply soon he'll give it to the highest bidder."

"And you just scolded me about being a workaholic Tarin!" he called after her as she left the room.

"I learned from the best!"

"Wow, you two certainly have an interesting dynamic," Coran remarked pulling on his mustache. "Wouldn't expect a Galra to blatantly disregard the emperor like that."

Lotor chuckled his cheeks turning a darker shade of purple, "Tarin and I grew up together as children, so I doubt she cares for my rank. In fact, she never has, even when she had once been my betrothed."

"Whoa, wait! You were engaged to _her_?!" Lance exclaimed pointing after. "How'd you get a hottie like that to agree to marry you?!"

Looking a little insulted, Lotor silently fumed. "I did not ask her to marry me, our fathers arranged it. However, when we were older we decided to break it off due to several arguments."

"A few mere arguments doesn't really seem like a valid reason to break off an engagement," Shiro spoke up. "Couples do it all the time."

"True," Lotor mulled, "but…" he trailed off, "it doesn't matter. Allow me to show you all around."

-.-

Keith sat in his regular Earth clothing sipping a drink that looked like lemonade but tasted like root beer, by his feet was a large duffel. Keith honestly stuck out like a sore thumb in the fancy environment he was in, but it would make it easier for the Blade to spot any threats coming his way. Kolivan and several other blades were hiding nearby, he could spot Kolivan dressed casually spitting from a mug "reading" from a tablet nearby—talk about a disturbing image—and Ilun and Vrek were "looking at some shops nearby, and he knew there were others hiding either in the crowds or wherever they decided to do their mission impossible stuff.

"It's good to see you again," Tarin smiled as she approached. Now that she looked at her seller more, she could see he was probably the same species as the Paladins.

"You got here fast," Keith commented.

"Well, I had to make sure you didn't sell to anyone else, you sounded pretty rushed," she smiled sitting down across from him. "So what is it you want to sell?"

Keith kicked the duffel towards her, glancing down. Getting the message, the Galra woman grabbed the bag, and attempted to heft it into her lap. It was heavy, really heavy.

Kneeling down, she opened it and gasped, inside was broken red and white armor, a complete Guardian Titan, the only thing missing was a sash, but she could easily supply it for one of the ones in the collection. Looking at a shoulder piece she gasped, seeing the symbol. The symbol of the Rein Fireteam itself, the fireteam that singlehandedly slew Crota, the Taken King Oryx and his brood.

"This…by the ancients…do you realize what you have?"

"A complete Guardian Titan Sunbreaker from the Rein Fireteam, this particular broken armor came from a Guardian known as Captain Allen James Kogane aka Texas. The only piece missing is the sash, it stands to reason that it burned away," Keith stated. In reality he was lying, he kept his father's sash, just to have something left of him.

Tarin sat back, this…this was priceless, people have literally killed for just a fraction of what her seller just brought her. "Wha—what do you want for it?"

"I need at least three large shipments containing a minimum of five-hundred blasters, XV in class and 325 in rank at least."

"Are you planning on going to war?" she questioned.

"Not exactly, some friends of mine are concerned about some strange black substance they found near a village on their planet, think it might be Hive possibly running around. They'd like some weapons just to reassure themselves."

"Of course," she said, "where will I be sending them to?"

This had been the hard part to figure out, but they had convinced Allura to let them slingshot a shipment to Central Command, and then one of the Lions would bring the shipment to them.

"I have some friends in Central Command who've agreed to bring the shipments to them," Keith replied and Tarin had to keep her eyes from widening, seems her suspicions were correct that he was the same kind. But she still had her duty to keep her buyer's IDs secret along with her sellers, regardless of the fact if they knew each other or not. "And I need them as soon as possible."

Pulling out her tablet, Tarin began looking through the Galra military arsenal, finding many large shipments above the required rank, mainly because few requested the particular type of weapons preferring traditional blasters over these reloading rapid-fire weapons despite the fact they caused more damage. "I can get you five shipments of six-hundred XV487s to arrive at Central by tomorrow."

"That's perfect," Keith smiled standing up and shaking her hand. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"And with you as well," she said, snapping her fingers as her personal sentry came and picked up the bag. "Be careful with that, it's worth more than your entire assembly line."

Going to her ship, she sat down next to the cargo and looked to the pilot. "Back to Central Command. I got what I came here for."

-.-

"The last place I want to show you before we head for dinner was one of my favorites to visit as a child," Lotor said as the began to wrap up the tour. "It's where my father stored historical artifacts on great value. Some even from Altea and Diabazaal."

As they approached the room, they could hear yelling, "NO! NO! NO! THAT DOES NOT GO THERE! AND DON'T HANDLE IT THAT ROUGHLY! IF YOU BREAK IT, I WILL BREAK YOU!"

Peering in the doorway, they could see Tarin baring her fangs at several unfortunate workers. "Tarin, I'm certain there's no need to be like that," Lotor implored getting the woman's attention.

"I'm merely protecting the artifact," she huffed flattening her ears.

"And do tell, what is it you've procured?" Lotor asked and the female Galra clicked her tongue, pushing him away.

"Nope! It's not all set up yet! I will show you as soon as it's perfect!" she said pushing them all out the door before closing it in their faces.

"Well…" Lotor gaped, obviously not sure how to react to what just happened.

"Maybe we should let her work?" Shiro said with a raised eyebrow.

"…Perhaps, I've never seen her so territorial over an artifact before," Lotor said still baffled by what had occurred.

Going to the dining hall, they sat down chatting as Pidge's tablet buzzed. "Guys! Quiet! Someone's calling!" she exclaimed and they all watched as she answered and a small hologram of Keith appeared.

"Hey Keith!" she greeted.

"What's up Mullet?!" Lance called.

"Where's your Marmora stuff? Are you on break?" Hunk asked noticing he was wearing his civies.

**"No, just finished an undercover op. I called to inform you guys I got those shipments the Blade needs all set up. The liaison said they should arrive by tomorrow."**

"So what exactly do you need?" Lotor questioned frowning a bit.

**"Kolivan wants to expand our arsenal in case of emergency, I just so happened to have met a trader not too long ago that I could get it from."**

"I see."

"We'll make sure to get those to you as soon as we can," Shiro smiled.

**"Thanks,"** Keith said with a nod before he ended the transmission.

"It's ready!" Tarin exclaimed bursting into the room, a wide grin plastered on her face and some of her long mane was a little frazzled, causing Lotor's eyes to widen a fraction. In all his life he'd never seen the woman looked so uncollected.

"Can it wait?" Hunk asked.

"No!" she said yanking Lotor out of his chair, causing everyone else to follow as she led them to the gold room with the curtain.

Now that the Paladins were really looking around, they could see numerous artifacts covered in glass on the walls, shelves, and on tables. To top it off, there were at least six Galra guards and several sentries on duty in the room.

"This cost me—well, actually you—a fortune to get, but I believe this will be the prize of any collection," Tarn smiled. "Now due to its rarity, I've had to triple the security."

That made Lotor's eyebrows go up. "Just what exactly did you get?!"

"I'm glad you asked!" she said grabbing the curtain. "Lotor, Princess Allura, Paladins of Voltron, be the first to gaze upon—" she ripped the curtain away revealing two sets of armor, "the first sets of complete armor I managed to obtain." Tarin turned to the blue and gold armor with intricate designs and embellishements adorning it, "This a set of ceremonial holiday armor," she motioned to the second set of damaged white and red armor with a burned black sash on its waist, "and this is the first complete Guardian combat armor ever seen in a collection."

"Remarkable," Lotor admired.

"Unfortunately, I had to use a sash in the collection due to the fact the original sash was missing," she grumbled her ears drooping in disappointment.

"But it is still better preserved than any other armor collected to date," Lotor said walking to admire it before stopping to stare at them symbol on the right shoulder piece. "…It can't be…"

"Lotor?" Allura inquired, noticing the suddenly crestfallen expression that covered his previously excited face. "What's wrong?"

"I…I once met the Guardian who wore this armor," he said pointing to the symbol.

_Flashback_

_"He's late," Lotor groaned leaning against a railing overlooking the Sprawling city of Laat Hiim braiding his hair. His father stood next to him, gazing out over the city with his hands clasped behind his back, Sendak standing behind them on guard duty. Why he was called here from his banishment, he wasn't exactly sure; probably to present a false image of a happy family; but he normally wouldn't be one to complain. Well, he wouldn't if he came here with anyone else. Now, he wished he could just get away to explore the place his lovely Tarin had always been so enamored with._

_"You do understand that the Rein Squadron Captain is most likely giving a debriefing to the Vanguards?" Zarkon answered dully._

_"QUIZNAKING DRAAF! Zu'u los spein!" _

_Turning they saw a young boy, about seven or eight, with pale skin, shaggy black hair and violet eyes race past towards the series of steps that led underground into the wall, a ghost flying just behind him._

_"Tinvok!" several adult Guardians scolded as he vanished inside._

_"Traveler, Allen where'd your boy learn to curse like that?" one man asked._

_The human man in red and white armor Lotor had noticed joking with a group of other Guardians turn around with a roll of his eyes. He had brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a scar on his right eyebrow just above his eye._

_"Ya really want me to answer that Glen?" he asked in a deep accent._

_"Nah, we all know that it wasn't you, considering how much those kids spend with Lord Shaxx and Cayde they probably say worse when we're not around."_

_"True," the man chuckled going right over to Zarkon and holding out a hand. "Y'all must be the representatives the Galra Empire sent, sorry it took me so long, name's Allen Kogane, I'm the Captain of the Rein Fireteam."_

_Zarkon nodded and shook the Guardian's hand. "I am Emperor Zarkon, this is my son Lotor, and my General Sendak."_

_Allen's eyebrows rose. "You came yourself? Don't mean to seem rude but it's a little early in these talks don't ya think? Ya won't get to meet the high command yet."_

_"I would prefer to handle matters as delicate as these personally."_

_Allen nodded, before looking to Lotor. "Why don't ya go explore the Tower or City, nothin' interestin's going to be going on till tomorrow when the Festival starts, just don't leave the walls and don't disrupt the lessons, both those actions are deadly in their own right. Ya can meet back up with us at the Galley for lunch, I hear they're servin' Enrix."_

_Lotor nodded and started walking away. He looked at the different vendor shops, admired the sight of the hangar filled with advanced battleships. Sighing he turned and started walking away, Tarin would love this place. She was the one who always went on and on about Terra and its fascinating history._

_And while it was no Altea, Lotor was always happy to hear his closest friend and future wife talk about her own passion._

_Leaving the hangar, he walked through the plaza down a dark and almost clausterphobic hall before exiting to another small plaza. This one had some sort of structure blocking the view of the city. Walking in, he started as massive rings orbited a glowing orb of white light, and flames lined the elegant room along the edge overlooking the sprawling civilization. In the upper corner to his left, something caught his eye. Walking up the steps he found himself looking at a small desk surrounded by a library of sorts._

_Picking up a book, he looked and sighed as he looked at the strange writing, it wasn't Fae, Awoken, or Altean, the alphabet was the same as the Awoken language, but the arrangements were different. Going to grab a different book, he stopped as a deep growl startled him. _

_Slowly turning, Lotor raised his hands, gazing at a scaled creature arching its back and snarling at him. It had some thick brown armor plating on its back and the rest of its body was covered in blue scales with darker blue stripes. It had burning green eyes, a long snout filled with teeth, and the beast easily stood to waist height._

_"Narvi! Stand down!" a voice snapped and it immediately stopped hissing, giving low croons to a Guardian in white robes that walked down a series of steps towards him. "I apologize for my pet, she is not used to visitors that are neither Guardian nor children."_

_"It is fine Sir Guardian," Lotor said with a respectful bow. "Thank you."_

_"I see you were admiring the Forbidden Texts."_

_"I did not know, it wasn't my intention to be disrespectful," Lotor apologized quickly. He'd be dead if Zarkon found out he'd disrespected a Guardian, librarian or not._

_"It is fine young one; I do not blame you for your curiosity, my former apprentice's works make many curious, you are hardly the first I've had to steer away. Especially when it comes to the younglings, I swear they make it a personal goal to kill me before their first Crucible," the man grumbled the last part more to himself. "Speaking of which I have a class, shall you like to stay and observe, or shall I direct you to somewhere less…deadly?"_

_"Less deadly."_

_The masked man nodded. "Head towards the Vanguard table, Lord Shaxx just might be running a Crucible right now. If not, I believe the Wyvern, Drake, or Sparrow Races are about to start. I would recommend taking a shuttle out to see one of the lesser cities, however scanners indicate a large storm rolling over the area, so they'll be closed down."_

_"Thank you," Lotor bowed before rushing out of the room._

_Lotor went back out to the wall, he would've liked to see a Wyvern race since the rare Terran creatures were something that had always fascinated him, since Tarin had started explaining everything about her favorite obsession. However, he wasn't sure where exactly to look for those. Perhaps if he was lucky he'd get to see a few as he observed the city from her mighty walls._

_A roar echoed above him and he looked up, smiling as he saw several massive creatures flying overhead. They dove down, and he could hear the Guardians cheer as their Wyverns began the freefall before pulling up at the last second. Flying back up, he watched as they spun and flipped in the air, effortlessly weaving between each other in a dangerous yet beautiful dance through the skies._

_A large blue and yellow Wyvern split off from the group, landing on one of the perches coming out from the wall mere yards away. The ground shook as it landed, and it gave a croon as its Guardian dismounted, petting the creature's feathery neck before patting it and walking away as it took off again. The sheer force coming off its massive wings making Lotor take a step back in awe as he watched it soar high into the skies._

_Lotor had to admit, they were just as beautiful as he had heard. So many different types with different vibrant colors. Tarin would love it here. Pity his fiancée couldn't accompany them, but then again, Sendak had always been overprotective of his daughter, no matter how powerful she was. _

_He would have to get her a gift to apologize. But what would she like best? There was so much to pick from. A gun or some other form of weapon would be a traditional Galra gift, however, Tarin loved history and arts more than warfare…Perhaps that is why they got along so well. _

_A book then? No…there was no guarantee he'd buy one in a legible language here. Terra spoke more languages than any planet he'd ever known. That would be a quick way to mess things up._

_Maybe clothing would suit her needs? Something light, functional, but he had to make sure it was ornate. Sendak wouldn't even let her see anything he deemed to be less than what his "princess" deserved. Looking at some of the clothing of the people around him he pursed his lips in thought. Tarin had always been fond of the Hunter cloaks, but those were strictly for them only. Perhaps there was something similar? Something with ornate embellishments or embroidery? With a pair of simple leather boots! She'd mentioned a few times that she wanted a pair of those._

_But where to get them?_

_Something bumped Lotor's leg, pulling the Galra Prince out of his thoughts. Looking down he was greeted by a small creature that looked like a baby Wyvern with four legs and no wings was pawing his leg with a red ball that just barely fit into its mouth with wide golden eyes. It was mostly black with brilliant gold shining on the edge of its small plates and the formation of two small black horns on the top of its head, as well as a violet stripe running down the middle of its back._

_"Rukaan!" a boy called running over and picking up the baby animal. The boy's ghost looked at him, before nudging the child, looked up at him as he brushed a piece of raven hair out of his violet eyes, holding the drake with one arm. The hatchling was almost big enough to still touch the ground as the child held it from under its front paws and its tail was wrapping around one of the boy's boots. "Sorry, sir."_

_"It is fine, child," Lotor smiled knelt down to the boy's height. "Tell me, is your little friend a Wyvern?"_

_The boy shook his head. "Nope, my Wyvern is still at my apartment till she's trained more. This is Rukaan, he's a Drake!"_

_"Drake?" Lotor repeated eyebrows rising. He hadn't heard of Drakes before, seems Terra was full of fascinating creatures._

_"Yep! Haven't you heard of them before?" the boy asked tilting his head and setting down the hatchling._

_A loud growl came before he could answer, and Lotor's head snapped up to see a much larger version of this drake walk by. He instinctively pulled the child closer to him as its lava burning eyes looked at them and it was brilliant green in color. There was a series of frills and horns around its head and a series of spines ran along its back. The Guardian riding the creature didn't seem affected, holding onto the saddle as its wings twitched every now and then. He was impressed that the Guardian could even get on, that thing was so massive not even his father would be able to touch the top of its shoulders. The riding Guardian make a click of some sort and the beast bellowed before its massive wings spread and it took off into the sky._

_"You can let me go," the boy said shoving his way out of his grip with strength no normal child could ever possess._

_"So…will your drake grow as big as that one?" Lotor asked trying to imagine this impossibly small child attempting to climb on something that large._

_The boy burst out laughing. "That's a dragon! Drakes don't have wings!"_

_"…oh." Perhaps Tarin would enjoy a one of these Drakes? She was fond of small creatures._

_"Anyways, Rukaan is probably going to be that big or a little bigger. He's a Yolosian Mountain Drake, so they get pretty big, but not as big as Strunmah Dragons or the Blēnon Wyvern though! Those things are so big they can crush a mountain! They even eat other dragons, griffins, wyvern, drakes, hydras, amphithere and even giant wyrms!"_

_"That sounds…quite large." Welp, there went that plan._

_The boy nodded, some of his hair falling into his face. "Yeah, they're one of the species we can't tame."_

_"Well, what species have you tamed?"_

_"Oh, well there's Rukaan," he smiled holding up the Drake, "and I'm still training my wyvern."_

_"Well that's more than I've ever trained," Lotor smiled._

_The child gave him a look of what could only be described as horror. "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY PETS?!"_

_"I do in fact have a pet. He's named Kova."_

_The child looked slightly relieved, "What's Kova look like?"_

_Lotor pulled up a picture of his pet, whom he had given to Narti to help her see. "This is Kova."_

_The boy blinked as he stared at the image. "…I didn't know there were house cats out in space."_

_"Keith! C'mon! Cayde is wanting us for something!"_

_"Coming Sky!" the boy—Keith—called setting his drake down as he ran off, the little animal chasing after. Stopping for a split second he turned around and gave a wave. "Nice talking to you mister!"_

_Lotor smiled returning the wave as the child left. Once the boy was gone, he ran a hand through his hair. Where on Diabazaal was he going to find those clothes?_

"Lotor? You alright?" Tarin questioned pulling the new emperor out of the memory.

"Yes, I apologize, I seemed to have zoned out there for a moment."

"It's fine, we've all had a busy day," Shiro smiled.

"Hey Lotor, what's this?" Pidge asked standing in front of a pedestal containing an old book.

Walking over, Lotor looked down at the slightly burned old leather-bound book. There was a series of lines dots and curved lines along the front. "I…I'm not sure," he frowned opening it carefully, just to see pages filled with the strange symbols.

"Well obviously it has something to do with these guardian dudes," Lance commented.

"Unless it was stored in the wrong section?" Hunk suggested.

"May I see?" Allura asked.

"Certainly," Lotor said stepping aside, allowing the Princess and her advisor to step forwards and look over the book.

"I feel like I've seen this language before," Coran said twirling the end of his moustache with a frown.

"What is it you're looking at?" Tarin asked.

"This," Lotor said carefully taking the book. He didn't even have to hand it to her before she gasped and took a step back.

"Set that down!" she exclaimed.

"Why?" Allura asked taking the book and placing it back where they got it. "Is it delicate?"

Tarin didn't answer. "I can't believe he actually got his hands on one, I'm going to have to bolster security again."

"What do you mean Tarin?" Lotor questioned, starting to become frustrated that she wasn't answering.

"This book is written in a language only reported to be found in Guardian archives. It's possible that this has intel on their enemies, or even recounts their history. It might even contain the techniques they used to manipulate quintessence. Though, for all we know it could just hold the bounties and assassination orders," she said holding the book. "I don't even know how Zarkon got his hands on one all the library collections were thought to be destroyed! I handled all of the collection and never before have I seen this."

"Do you think Haggar could have gotten it?" Allura questioned.

"It's possible, I wasn't responsible for managing whatever she brought in. And considering the fact she's always been a little obsessed with Guardian quintessence manipulation, it stands to reason she would find a way to retrieve something that might give her an insight to their power."

"But no one could read it, so why would she keep it?" Allura questioned. "Why not burn it to make sure no one else could have access to it?"

Shiro looked back at the book as Tarin set it back on its stand. "Probably because whatever's in there, is too valuable to lose."


	41. Blood Ties

Chapter 41

**A/N: Once again, I just own this story, nothing else is mine except the OCs.**

**/comm/**

**_Ghost talking to Keith alone/flashbacks/dreams_**

**Bold is intercom/video chats**

"Alright," Keith said standing before a large group of Blades as they held the new weapons, "now I know y'all are used to working with swords but when it comes to the Hive and Vex those won't cut it."

A screen popped up showing the different Hive classes at life size holograms. "We'll start with the Hive, what do you know?"

"They don't like sunlight!" some brave soul shouted from the back.

"True, Hive do prefer to avoid running in light, however if they do see you light will not stop them from trying to kill you," Keith added on. "Trust me, I've learned from personal experience. So what else?"

"Hive typically live underground?"

"That's mostly true, a large portion of Hive nests form under a planet's surface, however a Hive nest can form anywhere. Many old facilities on Terra, especially those with basements, became nests to the Hive. As long as it has some sort of indoor complex, they can use it. Now can anyone tell me how to identify a Hive nest?"

"The creepy white ones prowling around outside?" someone suggested.

"Black stuff?"

Keith nodded. "Those are good answers. Hive don't maintain buildings well, so most often nests made from already present facilities will be in a state of decay. One way to tell for certain is the black substance they use to cover the walls. If it gives off a dark smokey-mist, that means it's an active nest. They use that substance to reinforce walls and limit light entering. However, one thing you always want to watch out for at the entrance to a nest is Thralls," he motioned to the image of the small white thing.

"Those are the fast ones right?" someone asked.

"They're the fastest thing on land in the Hive, they can't work a gun so you don't have to worry about them shooting back," he stated. "However, these things bury themselves underground and they come in packs of at least ten. So while you shoot at one, its pack mates will swarm you and kill you. If you encounter them, you'll have to use your blades and kill them quickly. A Thrall's primary weapon is their claws, which can rip through my armor, so don't let them get close."

Keith pulled up the image of another Thrall with a glowing green head. "Then there's another type of Thrall you have to watch out for, this is known as a Cursed Thrall. They are much, much slower than a normal Thrall, but that does not make them any less dangerous," Keith continued. "No matter what, do _not_ let that thing get as close to you as I am to the third row."

"Why?"

"Because, Cursed Thralls are created by Hive Wizards and they spontaneously combust," Keith informed. "If you see one, shoot it, because it will come with other Thrall and that will lessen the number of Thralls you face because it will explode and take those other Thralls with."

"…That sounds more helpful to us."

"It is, except when they get close," Keith stated. "In example, if two blew up next to me, I would be dead."

"Ouch," someone winced.

Keith agreed before moving the image of the Thralls away and replacing them with an Acolyte. "Now this, is a Hive Acolyte. They're higher ranked than the Thralls, their armor is thicker, and they can use a gun."

There was a series of groans from the audience at that statement.

"Good news is, they aren't fast and they don't rush you. Acolytes will hide use basic combat tactics, using available cover to shoot at you. Now, if you're a good sniper, then you can easily blow up their head when they come out, and also make sure you have cover because like Thralls they come in groups, and sometimes, they come with Thralls."

More groans echoes from his audience as Keith continued.

"But if you really want to try, when their numbers get low, you can rush them and use your blades to take them out. I wouldn't recommend it." Keith turned and pulled up the image of a Knight. "Now, if you're lucky enough to get deep into a nest or just really unlucky in general, you'll meet this massive creature."

"What in the universe is that?!"

"I'm glad you asked, this monstrosity is a Hive Knight, what they lack in speed they make up for in a lot of other crap. First off, they can use either a sword or a heavy cannon that shoots five shots simultaneously in different directions. If you see one with a cannon keep your distance and shoot, it won't try to get close, however, I do not want anyone here facing one with a sword. If you see one carrying a sword, just run," he said shaking his head, "you won't survive a fist fight with that thing."

"You forgot to mention they can heal themselves," Ghost added.

"THEY CAN WHAT?!"

"That's just a couple we've seen," Keith said raising an eyebrow.

"They still did it."

Keith shrugged turning back to face the Blades. Pressing a button he switched slides onto the Wizards. "Now, finally we have this asshole, which under no circumstances will any of you face."

"Why?"

"Because, this is the Hive version of the Druids known as a Wizard. They are incredibly powerful and are near the top of the Hive power pyramid. Wizards conduct most of the dark rituals that give the Hive their power, they create the Cursed Thralls, and they run the given nest. These guys are infamous for their shield spells, which you'll have to break through before you can hurt it. Unfortunately, these things' shields regenerate much faster than a Knights will and they don't stay still and will use any offered cover to recover. Now, unlike Druids they can't teleport, but they can fly, shoot fireballs from their hands, and summon Thralls."

"These things sound fantastic," someone commented.

"WAIT! YOU DIDN'T MENTION THAT KNIGHTS MADE SHIELDS!"

"Well they do…I think we'll call it a day for this session. We'll start with the Taken and Hive Language next time before I move onto the Vex."

Several members nodded as everyone got up, slowly starting to disperse to perform different tasks, go on break, or find a way to erase the new nightmares he gave them.

Keith sighed, leaning against the wall, he wasn't expecting teaching to be so…nerve-racking. Was this how his teachers at the Tower felt all the time? Or was it just because he was trying to teach adults instead of kids? Kids would seem easier because they don't judge…at least not the younger ones, older kids definitely judge, Earth taught him that much.

"I'll admit, I'm surprised you didn't jump right into teaching them to shoot," Kolivan said getting the Guardian's attention.

Keith crossed his arms. "They need to know just what they're up against first. Teaching them to shoot and not tell them what they might be facing would be counter-productive and would most likely get them killed," he replied looking at the Blade leader. "You guys ever encounter Hive before?"

"No, neither have we encountered the Vex."

Keith nodded, it wasn't really a surprise, if they had he'd probably heard of a mandatory training course by now. "I don't really expect anyone to encounter the Vex, my people did a good job of keeping them confined to the Krein System. Not to mention even with the Guardians gone, they wouldn't get far due to their constant clashes with the Hive, Fallen, and Cabal in the system as well. I'm more concerned about the Hive. I know they've been expanding for eons. Frankly I'm shocked that we haven't encountered any, either in the Blade or Voltron and the rebels."

"They could be trying to regroup after Oryx's fall," Kolivan said, "there must be infighting for a new leader."

Keith frowned and glanced away. "If there is, then the remaining Hive gods must be still clashing for the title of Queen."

That got Kolivan's attention. "I thought The Guardians eliminated all the Hive gods?"

Keith shook his head in response. "No, we merely eliminated Oryx's line specifically. His sisters are still at large and have yet to be located...but if I'm remembering correctly according to the Books of Sorrow the Knight Progenitor and Hive God of War, Xivu Arath left her siblings a few thousand eons ago and hasn't been heard from since…which leaves the Progenitor of the Wizards, the Witch-Queen Savathûn. She's most likely taken power within the Hive now that her brother's dead…of course, she vanished as well…"

Kolivan frowned, if the Hive were regathering it would be very bad news for Voltron, the Blade, and the rest of the universe. "What do you know of them?"

"Not much…Oryx was the focus of my Hive studies since he was in our system at the time," Keith contemplated holding his chin in thought. "…If I can get my hands on the Books of Sorrow then I could give you more information. I'll probably have to raid a Hive nest with a Wizard present to get a copy."

"What are these books?" Kolivan questioned as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"They contain the Hive's complete history, the Warlock of the Rein Fireteam obtained a copy during one of their raids in the Deep during the War with Crota about a thousand years ago. We didn't get the real books till they invaded the Dreadnaught. Legend has that the book has a spell that enables it to continue adding the history to is as time passes," Yorak informed. "It took some time, but we were eventually able to translate it. If anything in the universe contains something on Savathûn it'll be that book…we'll probably want to brush up on Xivu Arath, as well, while I think it's slim, she could've returned and taken power in her brother's absence and in the event something happened to Savathûn."

"After your mission, contact your trader, see what she can find, before we look for a nest," Kolivan stated.

Keith's eyebrows furrowed. "Mission? I thought I was benched?"

"Well, there's one mission I need done as soon as possible, and considering your skill set, you're the most qualified to complete the job," the leader stated typing on the monitor, pulling up several images of a base. "This base was—until recently—run by a Galra commander named Ranveig."

"I remember him, we stowed away on his ship on the way to the Kral Zera."

Kolivan nodded. "Yes, and according to our intel, he's been working on a superweapon in secret. It is incredibly powerful."

"How'd you get the intel?" Keith questioned.

"We have a spy in Ranveig's base, one who has managed to acquire high-level security clearance. Since Ranveig's departure, it's highly possible she's taken control of the base, but we can't be sure."

"Why not?"

"We aren't the only ones who know of the weapon," Kolivan answered as the images of two female Galra appeared, both whom Keith recognized from the Kral Zera. "Two Galra factions lead by Generals Trugg and Ladnok are at war over the territory. All communication has been cut off since the fighting began."

"What do you want me to do?"

"We need you to infiltrate the base, extract our operative and destroy the weapon," he stated turning to face the Guardian. "This is of the utmost importance. If either faction acquires this weapon, it could tip the balance of power in their favor, so you cannot allow your feelings to cloud your judgement."

"I wouldn't—!"

"You have in the past," Kolivan stated. "Remember the mission is the only thing that matters. Emotions are a luxury we can't afford."

"Then I hope you remember that Guardians put the lives of others before a mission," Keith reminded coldly.

Kolivan frowned, but said nothing as he pulled up another image, zooming in on a female Galra with light purple skin and darker stripes on her cheeks. "This is the operative you'll be contacting, her name is Krolia."

"Huh," Yorak commented.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

"Should I go in Marmora gear?" Keith questioned, turning to leave.

"Considering since we don't know what we're up against, your armor will work better. However, use your Blade so the spy can identify you," Kolivan ordered.

Keith nodded, turning to walk off off when Kolivan call out to him again. "And Keith, use one of the stolen Galra fighters."

-.-

"I'm sure everyone had a pleasant evening?" Lotor greeted sitting down at the head of the dining room table. It also happened to be beside Tarin whom was reading a datapad quietly sipping from a cup of tea. Though Lotor was more focused on the fact that she was actually wearing the clothes he bought for her all those decapheobs ago. He thought she threw them out.

"Yes, thank you for the accommodations," Allura said taking her seat bringing him out of his surprise.

"Yeah, I forgot how soft a real bed could be," Hunk sighed as he and Lance sat down, the Cuban making a tired hum of agreement.

"I don't think I've ever sleapt that hard in my life."

"Good morning," Shiro smiled walking in and taking his seat. He was followed a minute later by Pidge, who just mumbled something indistinguishable in greeting before flopping onto her chair. "Where's Coran?"

"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" the boisterous Altean advisor greeted. "You won't believe who decided to join us today!" Reaching behind the door, he pulled Jaz in sitting in a wheelchair. She still looked like she'd crawled through hell itself, but at least she no longer resembled a corpse.

"Hey guys," she rasped, weakly waving a hand.

"JAZ!" all except the two Galra exclaimed shooting from their seats and hugging their friend.

"I'm so glad you're ok!"

"How are you feeling?!"

"Are you hungry? Need something to drink? I could make a tea that's almost like a honey tea my mom used to make!"

"Easy there everyone," Shiro said, gently pulling them all back, "give her room to breath."

"Thanks for the lift Coran," she said, resting her hands on the armrests, "I can make it to my seat from here."

"Oh no you don't!" he said pushing her back in the chair. "We just got you out of the pod, I'm not risking the chance of you going back in there till we're absolutely certain you're at one-thousand percent!" He wheeled her over to the table, setting a napkin on her lap and Hunk filled her plate and passed it over.

"I could've gotten my own stuff."

"I know, but we were so worried!" the Yellow Paladin whimpered tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

She gave a tired smile, "Thanks." Reaching for her fork, the Awoken woman raised an eyebrow as she spotted the person beside Lotor. "Uh, hi…who are you?"

"I'm Tarin," she said.

"Cool," she nodded. "So, uh, can someone explain to me what the quiznak happened while I was out?"

Pidge slapped her forehead. Sitting down by her friend, she began rapidly explaining what happened over the course of the past few days as they ate: the arguments about the Kral Zera, Shiro sneaking off with Lotor to the Kral Zera (despite how weak she was Jaz did punch Shiro's fleash arm and chewed him out for a solid ten minutes for that), about her dad's departure to Earth, when her brother and Darvah left to go back to the resistance, and everything else up to that moment.

"Wow…y'all've certainly been busy," she remarked.

"And we will still be busy today as well," Lotor informed setting down his napkin. "Shiro, Coran, I believe you two wanted to cross-reference our star charts with current Galra troop locations?"

Shiro perked up, "Yes, that'd be great!"

"I can have a sentry escort you to the record room," the Emperor spoke. "Allura, I was curious if you two could assit Tarin and I on a project we've been working on. Jaz, you are more than welcome to join us if you feel up for the task."

"What?" Tarin questioned her head popping up.

"What kind of task?" Coran questioned.

"I'M NOT INFIRM CORAN!" Jaz snapped, making the advisor jump. "Whatever it is, I'm in."

Lotor smiled. "Excellent. And no need to fret advisor, I assure you I will not strain her."

"Good," Coran nodded as he and Shiro got up following a sentry out of the room.

Lotor's gaze flickered over to the remaining three Paladins. "I'm leaving you with a personal escort sentry, he'll take you where ever you need to go." Standing up, he pulled back Allura's chair, helping her up before going to Jaz and taking the handles on her wheelchair.

"I can walk!"

"I already promised Coran I would see to it that you did not strain yourself," Lotor reminded. "This project is likely going to take some time, I don't wish to see you exhaust yourself so soon."

"Lotor, what project?" Tarin said raising a brow. "Just what is it you're dragging me into this time?"

"Please, there is no one else who knows the artifact vaults as well as you do."

Red-gold eyes narrowed, "…Fine. But I want rematch in that card game I bought!"

"I DID NOT CHEAT!"

"YOU DID TOO!" she snapped storming out of the room.

Lance glared after Lotor as he _chivalrously_ wheeled Jaz from the room with Allura gently taking ahold of one arm. Getting up, he moved to follow them when a sentry stepped in his path, effectively stopping him.

"So…we're just free to run around Galra HQ and have some fun?" Hunk questioned.

"What is fun?" the sentry inquired slightly tilting its head at the unfamiliar term.

Previous plans gone from his mind, Lance couldn't help but think of the chaos he could cause. "Nevermind that."

"Lance, it's a robot. It can't have fun," Pidge said. She narrowed her eyes in thought, and a diabolicale grin slowly started to spread to her face. "Unless…I reprogram it!"

Hunk shot out of his seat throwing a pointed finger high into the air, "TAKE US TO THE SENTRY REPAIR CENTER!"

-.-

Pulling out of hyperspeed, Keith blinked at the massive battle being fought before him, dozens of Galra warships were firing at each other from both sides.

"Well…I don't think this is a sight I plan to get used to," Yorak commented.

"Agreed," Keith nodded swerving to avoid a stray blast from an ion cannon. "Looks like things have escalated between Ladnok and Trugg!"

"I'll say!" Yorak exclaimed watching some pieces of the ships falling towards the planet's surface. "Try blending in with the debris! We could get to the surface without attracting any attention to ourselves!"

"Here goes nothing," Keith grumbled activating the thrusters.

They flew into the firefight, weaving in and out of explosions and cannon blasts rocking the battlefield. An ion cannon blast shot through a cruiser, forcing Keith to adjust course to the other side of the ship so he wouldn't be spotted. Two large pieces of the hull broke off, making Keith spin the craft as his ghost flew aimlessly screaming around the cockpit.

"You need to learn to chill out sometimes," Keith smirked when they were out of range.

"If you weren't such a terrifying pilot, then maybe I would!"

"Hate to break it to you Yorak, but I'm one of the best pilots in the Galaxy."

A piece of debris slammed into the wing of the fighter, ripping it off and sending them into a freefall towards the planet.

"SOMEHOW I'M REALLY STARTING TO DOUBT THAT!" Yorak shouted over the alarm vanishing in a flash of light as they fell down towards the planet's surface.

Quickly pulling up a screen, he pressed a few controls and pulled up on the thrusters, allowing the right bottom-thruster to activate and straighten their course so they weren't just falling aimlessly.

Angling himself with the surface, they glided along for a few moments before the bottom of the fighter made contact with the ground, sending it rolling and skipping across the barren grey terrain.

The stop was sudden and brunt, but the harness thankfully kept Keith from being hurled through the window. Sighing in relief, he let his head dangle singe he managed to crash upside-down.

Taking a breath, he started to fiddle with the harness. "Now the fun part," he muttered, grunting when the he was released and dropped unceremoniously to the ground. Everything hurt as he slowly got up, but it would heal in a few moments.

He could see some light coming through a break in the front windows. Kicking it in, he shattered what was left and crawled out of the burning wreckage. Thankfully he didn't crash too far from the base, the fun part would be avoiding the cannon shots that reached the surface.

-.-

"Reconfigured processor inserted and wired for optimal performance," Pidge listed.

"Checkity-check."

"Now, I just gotta upload the new program, and…all right, all finished," she said as she and Hunk high-fived.

"Yeah! Team Punk does it again!"

"How do we know if it worked?" Lance questioned peering over the sentry as Hunk joined him. Pidge leaned in for a closer inspection, adjusting her glasses with a skeptical look on her face.

The robot powered up, sitting up fast enough to heatbut the Green Paladin and slam her to the ground. "You dum-dums got any non-leathal, semi-combustable diversionary devices?"

"Huh?"

"I think he's LOOKING FOR FIRECRACKERS!" Pidge exclaimed shoot up from her spot on the ground.

Lance and Hunk grinned darkly. "Oh, it worked."

It was then the chaos began.

They started by blowing up packets of food goo.

"YEAH!"

"AWESOME!"

"AMAZER-BEANS!"

"What next?"

"Hunk, hand me another packet of food goo," Lance said.

"HAULT!" someone shouted and Hunk jumped, accidently squirting food goo onto himself as they spotted the guards. "You are being detained for unsafe sustinence preparation!"

The sentry grabbed a bottle and slammed it on the ground. "SCATTER!"

-.-

Alarms blared loudly as Keith came to a junction, peering around the corner, his eyes narrowed behind his helmet, there was his target…surrounded by four armed sentries.

While those tin-plated drones would be easy to handle, it was going to be tricky to get Krolia away without attracting attention.

The Galra woman stopped for a split second, glancing in his direction, forcing Keith to duck back. Listening closely, he heard the sentries start moving again.

Pulling out his Blade, he rounded the corner, towards the hall he watched the operative walk down…stopping at the corner, he waited, something wasn't right…

Sensing something, he whirled around as the sound of a blaster charging came from behind him. Keith's Marmora blade was mere centimeters away from slicing Krolia's neck, and her gun was leveled at his head.

"Krolia," he greeted.

The spy seemed to look surprised for a moment, before glancing at his sword and lowering her gun. "You're late. We don't have much time."

"No kidding, why do you think I was sent here?" Keith snarked in reply. "We'll have to handle the weapon first."

"Follow me," she said motioning with her head and they began running through the halls, ducking back when sentries and troops rushed by.

Rushing into a room, Krolia went to one of the monitors and began typing quickly. "I wasn't aware we had a Guardian in our ranks."

"Tried to keep it secret, cover got blown," Keith replied letting his helmet vanish.

"So why would Kolivan send you, our most powerful asset, here?"

"He's heard about the superweapon. We can't let it fall into the wrong hands," Keith replied.

Krolia glanced his way. "And he wants you to use your power to destroy it."

"He wants to make sure the job will get done, we don't know this thing's power, so you might as well use your most powerful force to handle it."

"Well, since Trugg's attacking my base it'll be best for me to assume Ranveig's dead," she grumbled.

"Krolia, Trugg is on the verge of crushing your forces, we need to destroy that weapon," Keith growled, crossing his arms. "Now what exactly is it? I have to know what I'm dealing with."

"Warlord Ranveig intercepted a shipment of undocumented quintessence travelling through his territory. He took it for himself and began experimenting with it. This quintessence is more powerful than anything we received from the empire, and Ranveig believed it could be the closest thing we've ever come to in recreating a Guardian's power," she replied. "However, it has some…unexpected effects."

Keith nodded, before the building shook, as the lights turned red. "**First levels of defenses have been breached! Activating secondary defenses!"**

-.-

"Now I see why you really needed me," Tarin mused as she crossed her arms.

"I don't understand," Allura breathed. "What is this place?"

"Haggar's lair," Jaz spoke. "I…when I was a prisoner, let's say I used to spend a lot of time in here."

"Jaz, if you wish to back out of the project and join your friends, I completely understand," Lotor spoke apologetically.

Jaz remained quiet, and Allura felt the need to speak up for her friend, "Lotor, why would you bring us here?"

"Our fathers travelled into the rift between reality, I believe Alfor's Altean alchemy made that possible."

"So you think the witch has something in here that could tell us?" Jaz questioned.

"Precisely, something of which contains secrets even Haggar was unable to unlock," Lotor nodded, "something that you two might be able to access."

"We shouldn't be here," Allura shook her head, taking hold of Jaz's wheelchair.

"Allura, please, I can't do this without you," Lotor pleaded.

The Princess was about to disagree when a hand rested on her arm. "I'm fine Allura, it's ok."

"Are you certain?"

Jaz nodded. "I can't run from my fears forever, and who knows, maybe I'll find something cool."

Lotor almost beamed as they both turned to look at him, "Tarin where do you recommend we start?"

Tapping her chin, she thought for a moment before making a sound of revelation. "I know! Since we're looking into Altean lore, we should look down this one," Tarin said leading the way down one of the passages. "From what I remember it has the most artifacts and records."

"We should split up, search for…whatever it is we're looking for," Jaz suggested, "something that looks like it could hold secrets or something."

They all nodded moving to different shelves and searching through the materials. Without a moment of hesitation, Tarin grabbed Lotor planting him in front of one of the shelves. "Tarin—"

"Hold still," she stated climbing on him and standing on his shoulders as she examined the higher shelves.

"Finding anything?" Allura asked walking over to Jaz as she sifted through the lower shelves.

"Not yet. You?"

Picking up a small tablet, Allura frowned in recognition. An Altean log. What was this doing here? "Maybe."

Dim glowing eyes looked up at her, and Jaz sat up. "Hey guys get over…here?" she trailed off as both stared as Lotor struggled to maintain balance as Tarin quickly moved between shelves, occasionally leaning back to check the one across from her.

"I can see how they were engaged," Allura murmured and Jaz gaped.

"They were engaged?!"

Allura nodded. "Lotor! Tarin!" she called waving her find.

"Oh! You found something!" Tarin exclaimed leaping off Lotor and knocking him to the floor as she jogged over.

Approaching, Allura couldn't help but feel relieved as the other woman's eyes widened in recognition. At least she hadn't grabbed something possibly dangerous…at least, she hoped it wasn't.

"I remember this, it's some old data log from an Altean scientist: Honerva, I think."

"Honerva?" Allura breathed in awe. "The Honerva who discovered the rift on Daibazaal?"

"Yep. Lotor! It's something about your mom!" Tarin yelled down to the fallen Emperor.

"Wait, if she's his mother, that would make him…half-Altean."

"He's Galtean!" Jaz exclaimed sounding excited and they looked at her. "What?"

"Yes," Lotor said joining them, "my heritage was something the Galra considered a weakness, but I considered it a strength. The union between Zarkon and Honerva sparked a technological revolution within the Empire. Even back then Altean culture was remarkably advanced. The kinds of experiments she was conducting…she advanced science by eons."

"How did Haggar get her hands on this?" Jaz questioned.

"Haggar was always after artifacts containing info about magic," Tarin stated. "Why do you think she has all of this?"

"Surely there must've been things she was unable to access."

"There might be a couple, we should keep searching," Tarin said as Lotor turned to read through his mother's log.

-.-

Krolia typed on the monitor, pulling up a camera feed. "Trugg's fleet has touched down! We're running out of time! C'mon!" A door opened, and they rushed into the elevator.

_"…This seems awfully dangerous,"_ Yorak murmured.

"Not now!" Keith hissed as Krolia glanced at him, an almost worried frown appearing on her face for a split second before her emotionless mask was back in place.

The door opened and they both sprinted out. "Get to that console!" Krolia ordered quickly typing.

"Yorak!" Keith said summoning his partner and tech expert.

"On it!" he said accessing the system. "What now?"

"Together we must enter this code simultaneously," she replied before and explosion shook the room and the doors caved in.

"Nope!" the ghost said vanishing again and Keith grit his teeth as three sentries carrying blasters entered, this day was just getting better and better wasn't it?

Growling, he pulled out his knife, changing it to its sword form, he rushed a sentry, slicing it in half, before rolling as two more shots rang over his head. Getting to his feet, he sliced off an arm, and stabbed the offending sentry through. Ripping his blade out, Keith leapt off of it onto the next sentry that grabbed his leg and tossed him aside.

His sword skittered across the floor as Keith caught himself in a handspring, before landing in a crouch watching as Krolia fired at the sentry that tossed him. Grabbing his sword off the ground, she slashed the remaining sentry in half. Before narrowly avoiding a shot from the new set of drones that rushed in.

Hurling the blade, it ripped through the helm of one, and Keith caught it. Changing it to knife form, he flung it through another sentry back to Krolia whom caught it with a smirk as he pulled out Crown Splitter.

Krolia quickly changed the blade from knife to sword, and they ripped through the last two sentries easily, before the sound of numerous guns cocking caught their attention.

Whirling around, they saw Trugg a few remaining sentries and several officers aiming their weapons at them. "Surrender or die," the general sneered looking down her nose at them.

Keith growled and raised his sword as Krolia lowered her weapons. "What are you doing?!" he growled.

She looked at him, and he watched as his sword changed back into a knife in her hand…when did it even change into a sword? He tossed it to her as a knife, right?

Krolia raised her arms in surrender as Keith bristled. "We can make a deal."

"What?! No! We're destroying whatever's in there!" he growled.

"I lost you once, I'm never going to lose or risk losing you again," she replied making his eyebrows furrow in confusion. Just what in God's name was she talking about? They had only known each other for a total of thirty minutes!

Krolia looked away from Keith back to Trugg. "Give us a ship and I'll give you the code to the weapon."

"Why should I trust you?" Trugg hissed.

Krolia snorted in amusement. "You have no choice, I'm the only one who knows the code to get in. The room will self-destruct if you try to break in. As soon as we're airborne, I'll give you the code."

Trugg's eyes narrowed in fury, she really didn't have a choice, and if they fought, there was a good chance that the Guardian would kill them all and destroy the weapon. She needed to get him out of the way.

"Very well," Trugg said.

-.-

"Why the long face?" Jaz spoke as she wheeled up to Lotor with Allura in tow.

"I'm afraid I don't understand?"

She sighed, "Is there something wrong with the log?"

Lotor sighed, "Yes. They start out clear, but the final entries, it's like they're written by a completely different person. Someone who's frantic, paranoid, erratic; someone who's lost all reason an intellect."

"Lotor, have you ever wondered…" Allura began, "what if—what if Honerva became corrupted the same way Zarkon did? Perhaps she didn't die. What if she and Haggar are the same—"

"That witch is not my mother," Lotor interrupted turning to continue the search.

"It's alright," Tarin reassured stopping beside them, "you're not the first to suggest that to him."

"You did?"

The Galra nodded her ears drooping, "How do you think our betrothal ended? When it comes to anything contradicting facts to what he believes is true, Lotor is one to ignore and shove it aside. Do anything contrary to how he believes you should act, he might to the same to you."

-.-

Keith glared at the spy. "I can't believe you! We could've taken them! How could you just hand over the weapon like that?!" he snapped.

"Keith! Shut up and trust me," Krolia hissed, tossing him a sharp glare over her shoulder. "Trugg, we're prepared for liftoff. Are you at the console?"

/Affirmative/

"The code is Beta-5-2-7-4-Omega-5-4-5."

/Confirmed/

"GET US OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Krolia screamed and Keith swung into the pilot's seat. Activating the ship, they shot out of the hangars, immediately shooting away from the surface towards space.

As they flew away, Keith felt something that nearly made him freeze…something dark. Shaking his head, Keith gunned the engines from his momentary let-up, he couldn't afford to be distracted now.

_"Keith! They're locking onto us!"_

"I can see that!" Keith replied. "Hold on back there!" Pulling the ship back, the first shot passed under them, before he spun to the left as the next shot came, which was followed by another and another as he continued to evade. They had to get out of range, fast.

Flying to the battlefield, he wove between ships that were still battling against one another and the wreckage of previous ships, avoiding the incoming ion cannon blasts as they continued to come at them.

A blast ran by their wing, thankfully not breaking it off. "This is why we should've taken them! We could die and you just gave that weapon over to Trugg!" Keith snarled swerving around another cannon shot as it blew past. They were almost out of range, just a few more ticks and they would be safe.

"No Keith, I gave them over to _it_," Krolia said and Keith felt a chill go up his spine…perhaps that feeling he got just before leaving the planet wasn't just his imagination.

-.-

"There must be something we missed," Lotor sighed.

"We've looked all over, there's nothing pertaining to Altean alchemy."

"Perhaps we're not using all the tools at our disposal," Lotor mused, "after all, all three of you are inclined in the magical arts."

Tarin pointed at herself, "Tracking spells and combat magic, that's all I got."

Lotor sighed, he really did know that, how could he not given their history. "Allura, close your eyes and just…let yourself feel the energy around you."

Doing as he said, Allura tried reaching out with her magic to see what she could find. There was Jaz, her normally powerful aura dulled to embers, but she would no doubt return to her old self within no time. Tarin was easy to detect as well, while not as powerful as Jaz and herself, Allura would still bet she was a formidable opponent. She could sense Lotor as well, his own energy swimming with nervousness and uncertainty.

And there was something else too.

Opening her eyes, she stepped around Jaz, moving a box and grabbing an arrowhead. "This."

"Wait a tick!" Lotor said. "I know I've seen something like this before!" He turned to Tarin grabbing her shoulders. "What was it again?"

"The water ruins?"

Opening a screen, he sifted through the data pulling up the files. "Yes! The Altean outpost beneath the waves of Entuk! It was there we found a mosaic depicting Altean explorers following a map projected from what they called a 'compass stone'. Supposedly, it can lead to the magical realm of Oriande, which houses the secrets of Altean alchemy."

"Oriande? I thought that was a folktale."

"My research has lead me to believe it's quite real," he stated. "We need to get this stone working."

"Abracadabra?" Jaz offered.

"Open sesame?"

"I think it'll be a little harder than that ladies."

"No draaf."

"Um…sir!" a soldier spoke up walking in nervously.

"What?"

"Um…the Paladins fired the robeast pod."

"…I love these guys," Tarin grinned.

-.-

Keith looked back at the scanners, no more shots were coming their way. "I think we're far enough away, they've stopped firing at us," he said putting the ship on autopilot as he got up to speak with Krolia.

The female Galra pulled out his knife and held it out to him. "I should give this back to you."

Keith took it, putting it back in its sheath with a suspicious glare. "How were you able to use it?"

She sighed and looked him in the eyes. "Because it used to be mine, before I gave it to your father."

_"I KNEW IT!"_

Keith's eyes widened and he took a step back in shock as if he'd been slapped. "You're my…Mom?"


	42. Old Magic

Chapter 42

**A/N: I just own this story and the OCs, nothing else is mine. Got it? Got it.**

**Bold is intercom or video calls**

**/comms/**

**_Dreams/telepathy/flashbacks_**

"So this magic rock is gonna guide us to a mysterious planet?" Pidge questioned skeptically.

"The land known as Oriande."

Coran burst out laughing. "Oh, oh, I'm afraid someone's been ruggling your wimble, Prince Lotor. Oriande is just an Altean folktale. It doesn't really exist."

"That's what I thought Coran," Allura contradicted, "but now, I have a feel it's quite real."

"Legend has it that it's the birthplace of all Altean Alchemy," Tarin informed. "Lotor thinks it's where King Alfor learned the secrets that helped him create Voltron."

"Yes, and where Allura will master those same secrets so that my ships may enter the quintessence field."

"We may have to be careful with that plan Lotor," Tarin said crossing her arms and glaring up at the Emperor, "my research has led me to believe that there's multiple similar fields connected to our reality. If we mess up, we could just as easily go to one of those instead."

"I'm sure just as long Allura follows the same process as Alfor, everything will be fine."

She threw her hands in the air, "We don't even know his process!"

"I'm with her," Lance said. "What makes you the authority on crazy Altean nonsense. Coran knows more magic made-up gobbledygook than anyone I've ever met."

"Thank you, Lance," Coran smirked. "And I assure you, King Alfor never mentioned anything to me about travelling to Oriande."

"Would anyone mention going to a place that everyone else thought was a myth?" Jaz questioned rolling up in her wheelchair glaring up at the arguing group.

"She has a point," Shiro shrugged.

"Ok," Hunk spoke up raisng his hand, "even if this place is real; aren't you a little busy running your empire to take a magical vacation?"

"In order to transition the Galra Empire to a peaceful existence, I need to open up a pathway to the quintessence field. Once my people have access to unlimited energy, the old ways of the empire will be behind them."

"If this voyage is successful, the universe will finally be on the path to peace," Allura said holding up the key.

"Well, let's find out where we're going."

The Castle's holomap activated and Allura channeled her energy into the key. Light came out from it, highlighting three stars and placing a symbol in the center. "There. Between those three celestial bodies. That's where we're headed."

Tarin's ears perked up before flattening to her head. "Is that where I think it is?"

"If you mean the Patrulian Zone, then I believe you're correct," Coran voiced, his tone equally grim.

"The what now?"

"The Patrulian Zone is a mysterious part of space where ships enter and are never heard from again."

"Think of it like a Space Bermuda Triangle," Jaz added furrowing her brows. "No one really knows much about it because anyone who's tried to explore it has just vanished."

"Lotor! That area of space has been deemed unsafe to navigate for centuries!" Tarin exclaimed storming up to him. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"It's the perfect place to hide a magical world."

"Or to crash and die," Pidge grumbled.

"See! She's with the program!" Tarin said motioning to the Green Paladin. Growling, she pinched the bridge of her nose taking a breath to calm down. "Lotor, are you even considering what could happen if things go wrong? We could lose you and Voltron! It's simply too risky."

"Not if we approach with caution," Allura said. "Prepare our course Coran."

"Yes Princess."

-.-

"We're approaching the Patrulian Zone," Coran said.

"What's that up ahead?" Shiro questioned narrowing his eyes at the moving bodies through the void. "An asteroid belt?"

"No. Many parts of the Reef were surrounded by these. It's a graveyard, of ships," Jaz replied.

Lance gulped, "What caused them all to lose power?"

"No one knows," Tarin grumbled crossing her arms, "but it's why this place has been deemed an unpassable region for eons."

Pidge looked at her scanners, frowning as they picked up a massive energy surge coming from the middle. "I think we're about to find out."

The Castle rose out of the wreckage and stopped, all the passengers inside gasping at the sight. In front of them, was a white light, sending vast amounts of energy blasting out into space.

"Is that some kind of super massive star?"

"No," Pidge breathed, "It's unbelievable! It's a white hole!"

"Whoa! Take that theoretical physics!"

"Wait. What's a white hole?" Lance questioned.

"Well, unlike a black hole which has massive gravity and sucks everything in, a white hole is an opposite body that shoots massive amounts of energy out from an unknown source," Pidge explained.

"Incredible."

"It's blasting this whole area with crazy high radiation," Hunk informed.

"Causing all the ships to lose their power," Jaz concluded.

Lotor frowned, tapping his chin in thought. "The wise stand back from the fire, fools are burned on the pyre. The mystic being becomes one with the flame, the embers and he are the same."

"Is that like a song you're working on or something?" Lance asked. "Cause it sucks."

"Lotor's never been a good poet," Tarin smirked.

Lotor tossed Tarin an annoyed glance, before looking back to the others. "It's a poem by an ancient Altean alchemist. I discovered it carved next to a cave painting of a fiery sphere. I never realized until now that is describes the route to Oriande."

Tarin raised a skeptical brow, "Or a dumb way to die."

"We must go into the white hole," Lotor continued looking to Allura.

"Are we seriously navigating by cave poerty now?" Hunk asked raising his hand again.

"How are we supposed to go through the white hole?" Pidge questioned. "If we go any closer we're gonna end up like those dead ships in there!"

"Not necessarily," Jaz spoke up turning towards them. "My people use a similar method to travel to and from our home dimension, theoretically speaking, a white hole could be a natural gateway rather than the one we made through magic."

Allura nodded, "Then we'll wormhole inside."

"Princess!" Coran protested.

"You can't be serious!" Tarin exclaimed.

"Voltron can withstand forces other ships cannot."

"That's not a guarantee," Tarin said. "Yes, perhaps Voltron is stronger because it's made from some special comet! But that doesn't mean it isn't affected by the same forces! Have you even tested what it can withstand?"

"No. But we have to try."

"Princess," Shiro said standing up, "are you sure?"

"If this is the home of Altean alchemy, then Voltron will make it through."

"And what if it's just another nuculear explosion in space?" Lance questioned. "Then we're toast."

"Princess, I think you've taken this quest far enough!" Coran said, "Lotor is sending you to your doom."

"I'm with him!" Tarin said pointing to Coran. "This whole plan is insane!"

"Quite the opposite, it is a mission of life discovery," Lotor replied.

"You need to zip it!"

"No! What he needs to do is listen for once in his life!" Tarin exclaimed. "Lotor! This is mad! I know you want to know more about your heritage, but this is taking it too far! Have you stopped to consider the results if you're wrong? You would die and Voltron would die! And my father—Sendak—would take over the empire and send things back right to the way they were!"

"But what if I'm right Tarin?" Lotor rebutted turning to her gently taking her hand. "Think about it, if the legends are true, we could end all of this. Bring about a new age of peace for the Galra and the rest of the universe. I know you're worried, but the discoveries we could make here outweigh the risks."

"Believe me," Allura added, "I would never ask any of you to do this if I didn't know…if I didn't feel in my heart that this is true. I belong here."

"This is as far as we can go, if we go any further we'll be affected by the radiation," Pidge said.

"Let's suit up and get to our lions," Shiro ordered.

-.-

"Alright Coran, open up a wormhole," Shiro ordered as Voltron floated over the Castle.

"Well, let's fly into the cosmic death storm," Lance grumbed.

/Good luck guys/ Jaz said opening the Wormhole.

Flying through the portal, Voltron emerged in the white hole. They all grunted at the force that greeted them on the other side, slowly pushing Voltron back.

"We're being blasted backwards! Full power to thrusters!" Shiro commanded.

The thusters burst to life, and they finally began moving forwards through the energy field. /We're making progress!/ Allura said as they began inching forwards.

Approaching the white orb, they all stopped to stare as a glowing form began to take shape. /Is that…a lion?/ Lance questioned.

The glowing beast's head emerged from the center and it's maws opened with a roar. A blast hit them and sent Voltron flipping back.

/Why is it attacking us?!/ Allura said confused as she gripped her controls with almost white knuckles. This couldn't be right. If her father really had come here years ago why would it be attacking them? Shouldn't it be welcome the product of one of its own?

"Fire lasers!" Shiro commanded.

Pidge shoved Green forwards, firing her blasters. Her eyes widened as the blast just went through it. /There's nothing to hit!/

The lion opened its mouth again and fired.

-.-

The screams of the Paladins echoed through the comms. Everyone on the bridge grimaced and Tarin whirled on Lotor, grabbing him by the collar. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT! I TOLD THAT THEY COULDN'T MAKE IT! WHY DO YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME?!"

"Tarin I do listen," Lotor interjected. "It's just—"

"Just what Lotor?!" she growled. "Just the fact you can never admit you're wrong?" Lotor remained quiet, reaching out a hand towards her only to have it slapped aside by the frustraited woman. "No, I don't want to hear it," she turned walking off the bridge and leaving him looking after her dejectedly.

"Lotor," Coran spoke up. While he did want to blame the man right now for what was going on with the Paladins, Tarin had already stolen everything he wanted to say and then some. "What—What's going on with your face?"

"What?"

The Awoken girl looked at him, her blue skin glimmering with stardust patterns, "You have Altean marks. And they'd glowing."

"The mark of the chosen." Lotor's eyes widened in realization. Tarin was right, Voltron couldn't make it through. "VOLTRON! GET OUT OF THERE! THAT THING IS A GUARDIAN! IT'LL ONLY ALLOW WORTHY ATLEANS THROUGH!"

/OH THANKS FOR THE TIP!/

/Pull Back!/ Shiro ordered and the signal from Voltron began to grow closer to the Castle as they began their retreat.

It was then the scanners began flashing. "We've got an energy spike coming our way!" Jaz said.

"Activating particle barrier!" Coran replied. The barrier lifted and the beam of energy slammed into it, destoying it in less than five ticks. "ALL SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN! OUR STABILIZERS AREN'T WORKING! WE'RE LISTING INTO THE GRAVEYARD!"

"Voltron!" Jaz called as she spotted the lions floating uselessly around the field.

/I can't control my lion/

/Me neither. I've lost power/

/I'm dead in the water!/

/I think we all are/ Shiro concluded grimly.

/These lions aren't going anywhere/

/Everyone, prepare for a manual EVA. Rendezvous back at the Castle. We need to figure this out/

-.-

"Are all of you ok?" Jaz asked rolling over to them as the group walked in onto the bridge.

"We're fine Jaz," Allura nodded. "How're things here?"

"We managed to restore auxillary power, but it won't last long," Coran informed. "If we don't get the Castle up and running within the next quintant, we'll be out of air."

"Maybe we can decrease our breathers by one," Lance growled at Lotor.

"If this is the home of Altean alchemy why can't Voltron get in?" Pidge questioned putting her hands on her hips.

"I have a better question," Hunk interrupted as Lotor was about to answer, "What's going on with your face?"

"I am sorry to put us in this position," Lotor apologized, "but I think I know the answer. Look at Allura and Jaz."

All heads turned to the two women and they could see Allura's marks glowing while Jaz had brighter stardust marks than she normally did. "You have them too," Allura pointed out.

"It's called the Mark of the Chosen. They're mentioned in some of the Oriande legends. They indicate those worthy of entering the realm," Lotor explained.

"Wait, why aren't Coran's marks glowing?" Shiro asked.

"There are different types of Alteans. Allura possesses a deep connection to ancient Altean energy. It enables her to operate the teludav and change her shape and size. Her father had greater alchemic understanding than any before him," Lotor answered. "Others are…less magical—no offense."

"Wait," Pidge said, "you said Alteans right? Then why is Jaz glowing?"

"I dunno?"

"So what now?" Tarin grumbled crossing her arms.

"Allura, Jaz, and I need to enter the white hole alone."

"WHAT?!" Coran exclaimed. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! JAZ IS STILL INJURED! AND WHAT ABOUT THE MONSTER?!"

"The monster is a guard keeping the unworthy out. It won't hurt us."

"But look what happened last time," Tarin growled stepping forwards.

"I'm with her!" Lance said pointing to the Galra woman. "You said it wouldn't hurt us last time and it did! Why should we believe you?!"

"And besides, how would you even get there? We're stuck," Pidge reminded.

"We can use the personal transport crafts," Allura offered.

"Allura please," Coran pleaded grabbing her shoulders, "it's too dangerous!"

Allura looked apologetic as she gently removed the advisor's hands from her shoulders. "Coran, I must gain some kind of alchemic knowledge in Oriande, both to save our own lives and bring peace to the universe."

"Then I must protest Jaz's involvement!" he continued.

"I'm not a child! I'm going! With or without your permission!" she challenged.

Lance looked at the advisor and stepped forwards, "Coran! Don't tell me you're going to cave in on this!"

"Lance," Shiro spoke, "she's right. The ship is stuck unless the princess can somehow get it restarted."

"Don't worry," Allura reassured. "I'm sure this'll work. I can feel it."

-.-

Jaz, Lotor, and Allura shot out from the Castle, flying towards the white hole. Making it inside, they wove through the debris, making sure not to hit each other as they moved towards the portal and its guardian. The lion looked at them and all three braced themselves as it opened its maw and they were shrouded in white light.

The light faded and Jaz opened her eyes gasping. She knew this place, she knew the pink and violet mists that travelled across the landscape, she knew the rocks and mountains appearing between, and she knew those rings in the sky that the light was passing through. Just on the other side of this vast desert was her home, the Dreaming City.

"It's amazing," Allura breathed.

"I agree," Lotor smiled as they landed.

Stepping off her lander, Jaz collapsed to her knees, tears streaming down her face. How long? How long had it been since she'd seen her home? She picked up dirt in her hands and let the familiar sands cascade through her fingers.

"Jaz!" Allura said crouching beside her. "What's wrong?!"

"I…I never thought I'd see this place again," she whispered removing her helmet letting her hair blow in the breeze.

"You know this place?" Lotor questioned.

Jaz nodded, wiping away her tears. "Those rings, above the desert, do you see them?" Allura and Lotor looked to the east, seeing the rings floating in the sky, letting light cascade down. "On the other side of those, across the vast desert and mist plains, is my home. The place I trained to be a warrior, the place I honed my magic, the Dreaming City. After the Galra…after everything…" she put her head in her hands trying to hide her tears, "I never thought I'd see it again!"

Allura hugged Jaz tightly, letting the woman she saw as a sister cry. "I understand Jaz, more than you know."

Jaz laughed lightly, pulling out with a soft smile. "I know, and I thank you for that Allura. I apologize for that."

"Jaz," Allura started putting a hand on her shoulder, "don't apologize for your emotions. They make us strong, they make us who we are. You shouldn't let them make you feel weak."

"I don't plan on it."

"Jaz," Lotor interrupted cautiously stepping forwards, "none of my travels and research has prepared me for this, do you know where we're trying to reach?"

Jaz stood up, startling Allura as she quickly stood up to help, "Are you sure? You still aren't at your best yet?"

"I feel stronger just by being back home," Jaz answered looking up at the sky. "Considering where we are…I think I know where we need to go," she turned walking towards the mountains, "Follow me."

-.-

"Anything?" Pidge as from where she worked with Hunk, Tarin, and Coran under the main console in the engine room.

"No."

"What's happening? What do you think they're doing now?" Lance questioned nervously shaking his leg.

"Now?"

"Yes."

"No," Coran said.

"Wait, what?" Lance questioned looking at them all.

"We're not talking to you Lance," Pidge snapped. "Is this doing anything?"

"Not currently," Tarin grumbled smacking the side of the console. "And smacking it doesn't do anything either, so it's not one of those systems."

"Ok. How about now?"

"Do you think she's all right? I mean, will they be able to get back?" Lance continued.

"I don't think so," Hunk supplied.

"WAIT WHAT?!" Lance exclaimed.

"He's not talking to you!"

"Well excuse me for being concerned!"

"We're all concerned," Tarin growled, "but we have bigger worries right now."

"Coran try to fire the chargers."

"It's just nerve-racking waiting for Allura to get back."

"I'm afraid they're dead."

"WHAT?!"

"THE CHARGERS!"

"SHIRO! CAN YOU PLEASE TAKE LANCE?!"

Lance pouted as they went out into the hall and he began pacing. "It's ok Shiro, I'll be quiet. You don't have to babysit me."

"Lance, let me ask you something," he said. "Do you remember, on Olkarion, how you asked me about talking to you from inside Voltron?"

Lance perked up, turning around to face his leader, "Yeah? What about it?"

"What happened there?" Shiro questioned looking at him, nothing but confusion showing in his eyes. "I can't remember any of it."

"Well, we were all in some kind of mystical Voltron mindspace and you were yelling something, but I couldn't hear you," Lance answered tilting his head questioningly. "Are you ok?"

Shiro sighed, his hands clenching into fists by his side as he shook his head. "I—I don't know. My head…I'm just…" he sighed, "I'm feeling so confused. It's like…"

"Like what?" Lance pried gently as his friend slowly trailed off.

"Like I'm not myself," Shiro confessed his grey eyes meeting his own.

Lance felt worried. It explained a lot, some of his behavior, maybe an after-effect of torture. But hopefully, it was minor. "It's probably just a lack of oxygen," he reassured grabbing Shiro's shoulders and moving him to the wall, "You should sit down for a little while. We'll get through this."

But why did it feel like things were going to get worse before they got better?

-.-

"I wonder if Father climbed this mountain?" Allura panted as she and Lotor climbed after Jaz as she led the way through her homeland.

"It's likely," Jaz replied grinning as she managed to heave herself on another rock, continuing to feel stronger as her energy returned. "I mean, getting through this mountain range is the only way to reach the temple overland. My mom and I made this trip with our family friends dozens of times throughout my childhood."

"You know, I envy you two, growing up with your parents," Lotor grumbled trailing behind them. "I always wanted to be an explorer and learn about the universe. My father was only interested in conquering it. he once put me in charge of a planet for a year, running the quintessence mining and getting to know the local population. Rather than employ the usual Galran methods of subjugation, I worked alongside the planet's leadership, learning their customs. We only extracted as much quintessence as could be replentished. And I enjoyed my time there quite a bit."

"Why do I feel like this story's about to turn dark?" Jaz commented as they reached the top.

"My father found out what was happening," Lotor continued. "He ordered me to destroy the planet. I refused and he sent me away."

"At least you stood up for those people," Allura reassured.

"He destroyed them all. I was powerless to stop him. I spent the following centuries searching for clues about my Altean heritage, another culture destroyed by Zarkon," Lotor growled.

"I'm glad you're here now, we never would've gotten here without you," Allura said and Jaz raised a brow.

"Really? I live here. This is my home. We would've found it and come here eventually," she deadpanned. "Now come on, the longer we stay here the less air our friends have. The temple's just on the other side of this ridge." Climbing up the slope, she put her hands on her hips with a smirk as the other two grimaced at the grueling walk ahead. "See? Not too far to go!"

-.-

Walking up the steps to the temple, they could see the glowing form of a white lion waiting for them at the entrance. "Guess that explains why the Dreaming City has cat statues all over the place," Jaz remarked leading the way towards it as it turned around and went inside.

Stepping into the temple they breathed in awe as they gazed at the ornate carvings around them. "Look at this ancient writing," Allura admired.

"It looks like the writing on the temple back home," Jaz whispered.

"The Temple of the Alchemists," Lotor spoke. "The mysteries we seek are hidden somewhere deep inside."

"Jaz, can you read any of this?" Allura inquired admiring the writing.

"Let me try," she said biting her lip, "my ancient languages are a tad rusty." Trailing a finger across the lines she started giving a synopsys. "So basically, the ancients who built this temple believed in the practice of light magic, brighting light and good to the universe. But, they felt conflicted in how to use it. Half believed they should stay here, and learn more, let their people grow until the time was right. The other half believed that they had to go out into the universe and share their light with the rest of the universe. So they did as such, half of the ancient race remained to harness their powers until the time was needed, and the others left, splitting the population in two…"

"And over time becoming their own separate races," Lotor realized. "The Alteans, who left to share their gift, and the Awoken, who stayed behind. The Alteans and the Awoken share the same lineage," he placed his hand on the wall gazing up at it with wide eyes, "they are both descended from the same ancient race who devised the methods of Altean alchemy."

Allura's eyes shined bright at the prospect, if this were true, then perhaps her people we're truly lost. "Incredible."

A growl came from the far side of the room and the three of them turned, spotting the lion at the other doorway waiting. Following it, they entered another hall, this one lined with massive statues bearing Altean characteristics with what appeared to be Awoken armor.

"The Sages of Oriande," Allura smiled. "My father used to tell me about their exploits. I thought they were just children's stories."

"You aren't the only one," Jaz muttered. "I remember Queen Mara telling me about them. She always spoke as if she knew them."

Lotor huffed, "The tales you two grew up with were not just children's stories. They ring with truth, and you two are the ones who can find out their secrets."

The temple rumbled and they all turned as the statues began moving. Leaping out of the way as two staffs slammed down, they rolled to their feet staring up at two more. It swung down to stab them, but stopped when Allura raised the key. "Great protectors," she said kneeling, "we seek passage through your land. We bring you this gift."

The statue bowed down taking the key in its hand and there were two thuds. Turning, they saw the statues blocking their way stand at attention, letting them pass through peacefully. Walking down the passage, they entered another chamber where the lion stood waiting.

"Another challenge," Jaz grumbled.

"It would appear so," Lotor agreed. "We may likely have to prove we're worthy to be here."

It was as if the lion growled in confirmation, vanishing into thin air. Then the door slammed shut behind them. "We're trapped," Allura gasped.

The room rumbled again and the ceiling slowly began to descend towards them. "Oh wonderful."

"Quick! There must be a clue," Lotor said. "Something a trained Altean or Awoken would recognize!"

Nodding the three began scanning the room, searching for something. "There!" Allura exclaimed running over to the two small pillars the lion had been standing between. "They look like the teludav in the Castle!" Placing her hands on it, Allura began concentrating, a glow emanating from her hands. Above them, on the descending ceiling, a wormhole opened and passed over them.

-.-

Lotor opened his eyes finding himself standing on a white plane, alone. "Allura? Jaz?" he called, his voice echoing over the empty landscape. Turning around he found himself face to face with the white lion.

The great beast growled, charging towards him. Leaping over it, he rolled to his feet, grabbing its jaws as it attempted to bite down on his head. "I will never yield! I will gain your secrets!" he challenged, crying out as it bit down on his arm, hurling him across the white field. Skipping along the ground, he came to a stop and stood up, pulling out his sword. "VICTORY OR DEATH!"

The lion leapt at him and he swung his blade right through it. He won.

Everything erupted in white light and Lotor fell to his knees. He was standing outside of the temple. He failed the test.

"No…NO!"

-.-

Allura found herself alone, hearing a growl to her left, she turned seeing the lion standing there waiting. The great beast growled and lunged towards her forcing her to dodge out of the way. "I do not wish to fight! I come seeking knowledge!" she pleaded grunting as it slammed into her. Rolling to her feet, Allura bit her lip. "What do I do?"

The lion turned growling and charging at her.

"No. This isn't the way," she whispered. "I seek the secret of life…I give my own." She fell to her knees and let the lion fly at her.

-.-

"GUYS!" Jaz shouted looking for her friends. Sensing something she turned forming a magic blast in her hand. But, when she saw what stood across from her, she stopped in her tracks. The lion, it stood there watching her.

Lowering her hand, Jaz sunk to her knees. She knew this. Those who sought the magic of life, never found it through death.

She extended a hand of peace, "I will not fight you."

The lion walked towards her and rested its muzzle in her hand. Closing her eyes, Jaz let the light consume her.

-.-

"Jaz…"

"Jazmyne…"

Opening her eyes, Jaz gasped as her own gaze met the glowing blue eyes of Mara Sov. "Queen Mara," she bowed.

"Stand," the Queen spoke, her voice echoing with power as the girl quickly rose to comply. "It has been a long time. I see you have found the temple of our ancestors. The temple my mother trained me in magic she helped create."

"Your…" Jaz trailed off unsure how to process the Queen's words.

"My mother was one of the Ancient Life Givers," Mara said, "one whose blood you share. It is no surprise you found your way here. You could say it was your destiny."

"My destiny?" Jaz questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Only those with an innate connection to magic and the universe around them can enter this place. Your connection with magic rivals my own, you and Allura's. You're both meant for great things."

"Allura! Where is she?!" Jaz exclaimed.

"Safe," Mara said.

Jaz nodded, letting out a breath. "So what's the secrets of the ancient magic of our people? That I have come to learn?"

"Those secrets already lie within you Jazmyne," Mara said resting her hand on her cheek, "and without a doubt, you will make the finest mage and, with my reign reaching its end, the greatest Queen our people have known."

-.-

**"Oxygen levels—5 percent,"** the computer alerted as everyone sprawled on the bridge trying to come up with plans to turn on the power again.

"There must be some way for us…" Pidge gasped, "to harness the power of the white hole…" she took another gasping breath, "and use it to get the ship working."

"We tried everything. I don't think…I can keep moving."

"Maybe…" Tarin gasped, "there's extra air…in the space suits?"

The alarm began beeping and Lance looked up. "Hey guys look it's Allur…" he trailed off passing out.

-.-

"You did it!" Coran praised weakly as Allura powered up the ship.

"We should've never doubted you," Lance panted.

"I couldn't have done it without Jaz and Lotor," Allura smiled, "without them, I doubt we would have made it in time."

"You are a true Altean alchemist," Lotor nodded, "Oriande was for you and Jaz, not for me."

"I know," Jaz smiled stretching, "feels good to be back at full strength. I am never using that wheelchair again."

Shiro smiled, "It's good to see you back on your feet."

**A/N: hey guys! So, what did you think of my Awoken-Altean relation theory?! I know it's kinda out there, and I tried to tie it together the best I could. But the idea came to me earlier in the story and I just couldn't leave it out! Anyways, I'll see y'all next chapter!**


	43. Faction Wars

Chapter 43

**A/N: I'm back! Good to see y'all here again for another chapter! I just own the story and my OCs, that's it sadly.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is videochats or intercoms"**

**T****_elepathy/flashacks/dreams_**

"To return so triumphantly is a dream I thought I would never achieve," Lotor grinned corssing his arms proudly as the Castle of Lions made its final approach to the Galra HQ. "We are one step closer to bringing peace and prosperity to the entire universe."

"That's all because of Allura and Jaz," Tarin commented, "they're the ones with the power you need to reach the quintessence field."

Lotor chuckled nervously, "Well…I wouldn't put it that way Tarin…"

"Please, I have to thank you," Allura interrupted. "Without you, we never would've learned what Oriande truly was and therefore could've never unlocked its secrets."

"I wouldn't say never," Jaz grumbled.

-.-

"We'll see what intel is in your briefing and decide what to do from there," Shiro said as they walked into the throne room. "Maybe we could—"

"Lotor! Tarin!"

All heads turned to a sout Galra woman standing in the middle of the room. Lotor paled and Tarin yelped her ears flattening back as they looked at each other nervously. "Oh no."

"Uh…who the heck are you?" Lance asked.

The Galra woman glared down at him with a sneer. "How dare you speak to me without the authorization from Blood Emperor Lotor!" she snapped smacking him with her switch.

"OW!"

"This is Dayak, our governess," Tarin introduced sliding behind Lotor and peering over his shoulder.

"No one has used the term 'Blood Emperor' since before we were a star-faring race," Lotor grumbled. "And these, are our colleages. They have more than my permission to speak."

"Hi!"

"A pleasure."

"Hiya!"

"Hello."

"Sup."

"Nice to meet you."

"Lotor, let's face it, she's never here without a reason," Tarin deadpanned.

Lotor sighed, crossing his arms. "So what do we owe the honor?"

"Word of your victory at the Kral Zera has spread throughout the Empire. I always knew you had it in you to crush your enemies. Dayak's raised you from a child to a man, and now I'll witness your ascension to the throne and your marriage to your empress!"

"Huh?"

"Wait, she raised you from a child?" Lance chuckled. "Aww, is this your nanny?"

"Governess."

"You have a nanny!" Lance grinned. "Oh man, is she going to read you bedtime stories? Is she gonna rock you to sleep? Is she gonna—OW!" he yelped as Dayak hit him again.

"I instructed Lotor and Tarin in the ways of the Galra! The history of our conquests, our customs, battle philosophy, the art of war."

"Hmm…Galra customs huh?" Hunk said sounding interested. "Is that like when you say 'verpit sa' and stuff? There's so much we don't know about you."

"If you're interested in our society's history," Lotor said taking Hunk's shoulder, "there is no better teacher than Dayak."

"What Lotor says is true."

"Oh wow. Would you really teach me about the Galra?" Hunk asked.

"What do you wanna know about the Galra for?" Lance scoffed.

"Well, we're gonna be working with Lotor to bring peace to the empire right? Makes sense the more we know about their society the better."

Dayak narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing the Yellow Paladin. "If you are to learn the ways of the Galra you must be premared for the most challenging trial you could ever undertake! There will be no turning back! Victory or death!"

"Um…Dayak, not to interrupt but…" Tarin laughed lightly, "what did you mean by Lotor's marriage?"

The woman rolled her eyes, smacking Tarin on the head. "Surely you haven't forgotten your own betrothal?!"

They both looked to each other then back at her. "WE CANCELED THAT!"

Dayak scoffed, pulling out a parchment. "Your fathers didn't. And it is written and sealed in Galra blood, making the bond unbreakable," she grinned. "You two, are getting married! The preparations are already well under way. The wedding will be held on the astral conflux." She turned to Hunk, "In the meantime, I can teach you our ways."

"Uh…" Hunk grimaced sounding unsure.

"Hunk, you're a Paladin of Voltron. There's no challenge too great for you," Allura reassured.

Hunk crossed his arms and pursed his lips in thought. "Hmm…will I learn what vrepit sa means?"

"Yes."

"Let's do it!"

As Hunk was led away by Dayak, Shiro gulped turning to Tarin and Lotor, both of which looked like they'd been slapped. Clearing his throat, he got their attention, "Perhaps we should get to that briefing?"

"Uh…yes," Lotor nodded stepping forwards.

"Hey! Let me go!" Tarin growled as two guards grabbed her ams.

"What are you doing?!" Lotor questioned bristling as he whirled around.

"I'm sorry sir, but the bride and groom aren't allowed to see each other before the wedding, Dayak's orders," one apologetic guard said before yelping as Tarin electrocuted him and stormed off with both of them chasing after.

-.-

"The war continues unimpeded. More and more Galra forces are leaving to join other factions. Sendak has claimed the most deserters. They call themselves The Fire of Purification."

Lotor scowled at the image of Tarin's father, his father's most bloodthirsty general. "It's time I address all Galra and make my claim as Emperor absolute."

"Is that going to start with you freeing planets?" Lance questioned.

"It's not that easy. My grip on the empire is tenuous as it is. I need to prefer an alternative to our current state," Lotor replied.

"Like marrying Sendak's daughter," Jaz commented.

Lotor glanced away at that. "I suppose that would lessen hostilities," he mumbled. "But I was referring to the importance of gaining access to the quintessence field."

"Are going to focus all of our energy on that?" Allura asked.

"It's paramount. However, we cannot let the empire fall apart. I will address my people at the astral conflux…" he gulped, "at my wedding."

-.-

"What does holding weights have to do with me learning about Galra?" Hunk questioned as he squatted holding a pair of heavy weights above his head in the training room.

"Palen bol!" Dayak scolded smacking him with her switch.

"OW!"

"For the mind to learn, the body must be broken."

Hunk gulped. "Broken? That seems a little drastic."

Dayak smacked him again. "Palen bol!"

"OW! What does that mean?!"

She rolled her eyes as if it were obvious. "It means, 'the enlightening pain'," she answered bending her switch threateningly. "But apparently there is not enough pain to make you enlightened yet."

"So you're gonna hurt me until I'm smart?"

"Yes."

Hunk groaned. Just what did he get himself into?

"The Galra race started as a nation tribe on planet Daibazaal," Dayak began circling him, "home to many warring races at the time. In the war to annihilate the opposing tribes, the Galra formed a phalanx of their bravest and made a spear-like attack to the heart of their foes! It was known as the Killing Thrust, or Verpit Sa."

"Oh, so that's what Vrepit Sa means? Killing Thrust? That's so violent."

"Palen bol!"

"Ow!" he yelped as the switch hit the back of his head.

"Yes. It is violent. The Galra believe combat is the searing light that burns away imperfections on every level, from personal to societal."

"Cool," he whimpled feeling his limbs slowly melting into jelly. "Can I maybe take a break?"

Dayak looked affronted. "Breaks?! There are no breaks! Your training is finished when you have learned all pain has to teach you!"

"Aw man. That's so intense."

"The only _break _you get is for the wedding, and that is because I want to watch Lotor and Tarin get married!" Dayak huffed. "If you decide to leave your training early, it is an insult to my teaching. An insult that can only be settled by a fight to the death!"

"So you're saying a fight to the death is the only way out of this?"

Dayak hit him again.

"OW!" he yelped as his rump stung. "Ok. Yeah. You just said that. I guess I am getting smarter."

-.-

"You must replicate your father's work if we are to use this ship to enter the quintessence field," Lotor said as he Jaz and Allura stood in front of the comet ship.

"How?"

"Something you learned in Oriande. Something your father learned to become the superior alchemist he was. How he built Voltron is the key"

"Well that's specific," Jaz grumbled.

"My Lord." Turning they saw a guard. "It's time to prepare for your wedding."

Lotor took a breath, nodding. "Of course. I trust I will see you both there."

"We won't miss it," Allura smiled getting a nod from the emperor as he left. "I guess that means we should gather the others and get ready."

"Guess so."

-.-

"How's training going?" Lance asked as Hunk flopped down beside them in the front row of chairs holding officers on either side of a cleared path. Lotor sat on his throne wearing ornate armor and the Archivist stood to the side, waiting for the bride.

"Ugh, I'm dying."

"I'm sure it'll get better," Allura reassured before gasping as the music started.

Everyone stood up as the doors opened revealing Tarin. She wore a blood red gown that trailed along the floor at least two meters behind her, it had a corested top with jewels and a loose skirt. Her violet mane was pinned up the the side in an ornate bun, make-up adoring her face and jewels wrapping around her arms and neck, shimmering as she strode down the aisle.

Lotor stood up from his throne as she approached, bowing to take her hand. Still holding her bouquet with one hand, she gently took his and fell into step beside him as they asended the steps and stood before the Archivist.

"Galra brothers and sisters, we are gathered here today to complete the blood union written years ago by Emperor Zarkon and General Sendak, to join their families together through the union of Emperor Lotor—Son of Zarkon—and Lady Tarin—Daughter of Sendak. Does anyone object to these proceedings?" There was no answer except for a muffled cough. "Very well. Emperor Lotor: your vows."

Lotor took Tarin's hands and looked up at her taking a breath of awe. While he'd never been personally fond of the Galra race, Tarin was one of the only friends he had made in his early childhood. And despite the fact she was pure Galra, she didn't look down on him for being less. "Tarin…you and I have known each other since our childhood. You have watched out for me when all others would not spare me a second glance, and you remained loyal even through our conflicts, looking out for my best interests even if I disagree. You are the one to call me out when I am in the wrong. The Galra Empire could not have a better person to serve as Empress by my side if you'll have me?"

"Lotor," she began, "you were always stubborn. It is what's gotten you so far. And I've always found it to be one of your most endearing qualities. You were there when most other Galra scoffed at my interests and ideas. You try to be open minded, and while you do your best, you do have that stubbornness," the audience chuckled as Lotor flushed. "But you think outside the box, and your ideas have lead us to this day. You are the Emperor the needs, and, if you will have me, I would be honored to serve as your Empress."

"Lotor," the Archivist said, "Do you take Tarin as your Empress?"

"I do."

"Tarin. Do you take Lotor as your mate?"

"I do."

"Brothers and sisters of the Galra Empire, I present to you, Emperor Lotor and Empress Tarin!"

The crowd in the room cheered and even the Paladins clapped, Lance and Hunk hiding a few tears at the vows. The new couple turned to everyone, hand-in-hand before Lotor silenced them all. "Brothers and sisters of the Galra Empire," he began, "I am your emperor, Lotor, son and successor of Zarkon, Slayer of a Tyrant, Child Raised in the Void and Taught on the Battlefield, Husband to Empress and High Priestess Tarin. There are rumors of doubt regarding my leadership. Do not let them poison your ears. Pledge loyalty to me and I will deliver the Galra Empire unto times of untold prosperity. An age of unlimited quintessence, the likes of which this universe has never known. Soon, I will raise our grand empire above the indigence and violence of its past up to new heights of peace and limitless possibility. Those factions that splintered from the Empire will pay for their treachery. I urge you now, send me your messages of fealty. Those who choose to turn their backs on their emperor will find themselves lost to the sands of history, unremembered and unmourned."

-.-

"Ow! OW!" Hunk yelped hopping on one foot trying to keep balance as he looked at Dayak. "I did everything you told me!"

"Yes. But that doughy face of yours is very un-Galra."

"It's just my face!"

She swung down, forcing him to lean back. The switch swung to the other side and he managed to avoid getting smacked. Grinning in victory Hunk's eyes widened as she began again, this time, she didn't stop. Hoping around, Hunk, by some miracle, managed to avoid her, finally ending where he was balancing on one hand as Dayak stood looking down at him with a smirk.

"Very good."

"Really?!" he eclaimed getting up.

The switch smacked his face. "Showing complacency? Palen bol!" she scolded smacking him a few more times. She raised her weapon again when the alarm went off making everyone run to the command center.

**"The planet is already been fired upon and we do not have the means to protect ourselves. You must send assistance immediately."**

"Understood," Lotor said ending the transmission.

"What's going on?" Shiro said.

"One of our lobor planets is under attack by Sendak and his fleet," Tarin growled.

"Sendak?" Lance groaned. "Not that guy again."

"Isn't that your dad?"

Tarin sighed, "Unfortunately. But don't ask me to negotiate, he never listens," she tossed a glare to Lotor, "like someone I know."

"We've got to help that planet immediately," Pidge voiced.

"Sendak would have me respond to this attack and neglect my empire," Lotor stated looking grim.

"Let me! I have a few bones to pick with the old man!" Tarin growled.

"Tarin, like it or not, you are my Empress, you can't just go galavanting off to war," Lotor argued.

"Oh really?" she drawled rolling her eyes. "What's stopping me Emperor?"

"Let's see: the fact that you could be kidnapped, the fact you could be injured, how about the fact that there are numerous factions that could hurt you to get to me?!" he listed.

"I'm a druid! I can handle myself!" she protested. "Besides, who used to and still kicks your ass when we spar?"

"Please," Allura interjected stepping forwards, "don't put yourself at risk. Voltron can handle this while you two continue to rule."

"But Princess, I need you and Jaz here to—"

"Your plan has waited this long. It can wait a tick longer," Allura reminded. "We must protect your innocent subjects."

"Of course, you're right."

"We'll be back soon," she said turning and leading the way.

Hunk began to turn and follow only to yelp as his ear was grabbed. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I have to cut my training short!"

"You dishonor me! A fight to the death!"

Hunk grimaced as he slowly backed up towards the other Paladins. "Ok, well, I've got to go with them right now. But maybe we can put a pin in that? Reschedule for tomorrow? Or never?" Without waiting for an answer Hunk leapt after his friends as the elevator began to lower.

"I'm going with them," Tarin said hiking up her wedding grown following. "And don't try stopping me!"

-.-

/Hey, uh, Dayak isn't really going to fight me to the death is she?/ Hunk asked as the lions flew away from central command.

/She seemed pretty serious. But I bet if you ask Lotor or Tarin nicely they could have her exiled/

"I'm not exiling her. You'll have to ask Lotor," Tarin answered her ear twitching in annoyance.

/That'd be nice. I'm not really in the mood to die, you know?/ Hunk sighed. /But, hey, am I the only one who's worried that we're about to face Sendak? Sendak, who almost took all the lions, Sendak…/

Shiro didn't really hear all of what Hunk was saying. Biting his lip, he bit back a groan as his head began to throb, pain rippling through it as if it were trying to explode within the small confines of his skull.

/Come on, we're Paladins/ Pidge scoffed /we've got this. Right Shiro?/ When she didn't get an answer Pidge frowned and asked again, /Shiro?/

Jaz looked down, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder looking at him in concern. "Shiro?" Hearing her voice, he sighed looking at her glowing eyes. "Are you ok?"

He nodded, noticing the pain had slowly begun to ebb away. "Y-Yeah. Pidge is right," he replied. "Let's focus on our mission."

Jaz shared a skeptical look with Tarin, shrugging as she saw the question in the other woman's eyes. They didn't believe him for one quiznaking tick.

The wormhole opened and the Lions soared through, appearing on the other side behind the Galra fleet. Flying around the command ship, they lined up, glaring at them in a challenge.

-.-

"We've arrived at the coordinates," Axca informed as the ship approached the white hole. "We can't go any closer without losing power."

"Stay on course," Haggar commanded as her markings began to glow.

-.-

Shiro's head exploded in pain, making him cry out. Reaching up to hold his head, he doubled over, trying to will the pain to go away. "Shiro!" Jaz exclaimed grabbing his shoulder.

/Shiro! Are you all right?/

/What's going on?/

"I'm fine."

"No you're not," both women scolded.

Shiro ignored them, grasping at the controls. "Come on team. Let's form Voltron!"

"Hold on!" Jaz warned grabbing the side as the transformation sequence begun. "How you doing?"

"Lotor's driving is worse."

Finishing their transformation, Voltron flew at the command ship. Sendak opened a hailing frequency. **"I know your true weakness Voltron. You care for the lives of others. And I will hammer that weakness until you are crushed beneath my heel,"** he said and the ship's ion cannon fired. The violoet past zipped right past Voltron, slamming into the shield behind them. The shield protecting the colony below from the deadly radiation belt.

/No! Without those panels in place. The planet will be fully exposed!/

/Which means?/

/They'll have no protection from the radiation bands!/

"YOU'RE A COWARD FATHER!" Tarin screamed. "A REAL GALRA WOULD FIGHT WITH HONOR ON THE BATTLEFIELD!"

Sendak didn't answer her, merely closing the transmission as his ships turned and went into hyperspace.

/We can't let him get away!/

"Lance," Shiro grit out, "there's no time. We've gotta fix that shield as soon as—ah!" He grunted in pain stabbed through his skull once again.

/Shiro, are you all right?/ Allura questioned.

"I'm fine."

"NO HE'S NOT!"

"We can't leave that planet unprotected," Shiro continued, his body trembling. Voltron flew down to the shield, and opened a communication. "We are the Paladins of Voltron, working with Emperor Lotor. We're here to help."

"Commander Bogh," Tarin spoke, "what's the status of you're shield system?"

/Empress, Paladins/ he greeted. /our damage report indicates that a plate has been fractured, our generator is offline and needs rebooting other plates have shifted out of their gravitational harnessing and must be repositioned. We only have five dobashes until the next solar sequence/

"Hunk, you're the engineer. How do we handle this?"

/We need to split up. Pidge, you handle the generator system/

/Then I need Shiro to come with me. I can use his arm to power the mainframe/

/Ok, good. Allura, Lance I need you two to re-fuse the fractured plate/

/Affirmative/

/You got it/

/Jaz, Tarin, do you think your magic can hold off the radiation?/

"We'll do our best."

/Ok. I'm gonna try to get the plates aligned/

"Ok, we've got our orders, let's move!" Shiro ordered and Voltron split apart, flying towards their intended destinations.

Green and Black flew under the station attaching themselves to the underside of the plates. Getting their helmets on, the group flew out and down to the shield. Opening a hatch, they got inside. "Pidge, follow the schematics, they'll lead you to the main generator. I'll lead Jaz to the control room. It'll be the best spot for us to conduct our spell."

Pidge nodded. "Ok. Good luck."

"To you as well," Jaz said. "And Pidge, keep an eye on him," she motioned to Shiro, "I don't think he's in top form."

"We can worry about that later. Lets move!" Tarin said and they activated their jetpacks, flying down the passage. Moving through the halls, Tarin opened and airlock, allowing them to get inside. "Follow me!"

-.-

/Where does this plate need to be lined up?/

"You're moving Plate 7-2. It needs to be aligned with Plate 8-1," Bogh replied.

/Got it/ The Yellow Paladin replied, /But those other plates are out of position. There's no way I'll be able to move them all myself/

"I can activate the manual thrusters on some of the plates. It will be slow going but I—"

A blaster hummed as it activated. "First you side with Lotor and get our system attacked by Sendak. Then, you willfully work with Voltron, our sworn ememies!" Lahn snarled.

"Get to your station and begin the thrust sequence!" Bogh growled. "That's an order!"

/ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?! PALEN BOL!/

All the Galra on the bridge jumped in shock. "Huh?"

/YOU'RE BOTH A DISHONOR! DO YOU FIGHT FOR YOURSELVES OR DO YOU FIGHT FOR THE GALRA?!/

"GALRA!"

/THEN VICTORY OR DEATH! ENOUGH OF THE BICKERING!/

"We're going to die because of Commander Bogh," Lahn defended his ears twitching back.

/You know, long ago, there was a desperate group of Galra that thought they were going to die. They executed a spear-like attack known as the Killing Thrust!/ the Yellow Paladin recited. /Those soldiers knew what it meant to put their life on the line! They won the day! Are you ready to put aside your differences and fight with me?!/

"Vrepit sa!" they saluted.

"Well," a voice rumbled behind them and the men yelped as they turned and saw the Empress and Sorceress standing behind them, "now that we have that out of the way. Let's get to work on stopping that belt if it reaches us before the shield is repaired."

"My normal shield spell wouldn't be able to block all of it," Jaz said.

Tarin nodded tapping her chin. "Yes, I've heard of that spell. Have you tried spreading it out over a vast area?"

"Once, during the Voltron Show. A beast got out of control in the arena."

"How powerful was it?"

"I don't know. It didn't have the chance to test it."

The Empress pursed her lips, ears perking up as an idea came to her. "It's not my forte, but if we combine spells, using your shield spell and I use an amplification spell."

"The shield might be poweful enough to block the radiation belt!" Jaz finished. "The question will be how long does it last?"

"Magic is at its best in the middle of a spell. At the beginning and end it's weaker. So we have to time it just right!"

-.-

/Pidge! I need you to restore main shield power to get this gravitational harnessing going/

/We're on it!/

"Ok, broken massive shield plate," Lance grimaced looking at the wreckage. "Don't suppose there's a quick tutorial video on how to fix this?"

/Make sure the connection's straight. If it's even one degree off the shield will fail!/

"THAT'S NOT A TUTORIAL HUNK!"

/Lance/ Allura spoke up, /if you could hold them in place, then I could freeze them together. But I don't think the ide will withstand the radiation for very long/

His eyes widened as an idea came to him. "Hey, maybe after you freeze them I could use my heat ray to weld them together?"

/Great idea Lance!/

"Aww, thanks Allura," he blushed. "I couldn't have thought of it without you though. We make a great team. Here we are, working together, just the two of us."

/Let's go Lance!/ Allura said.

Gathering the broken fragments, Red stood on trop of them holding them together with her paws. "They're all in place!" he called. Blue flew up, activating the freeze ray. The blue light shot down, and a ice crawled over the large crack, forming a temporary glue till he could weld them together.

/That should hold them/

Taking that as his cue Red flew up beside blue, the heat ray beginning to power up. "Hope this works," Lance muttered. The laser began to sear the metal fusing it together and repairing the fractured plate.

/We did it!/

/Good job guys!/ Hunk called. /Pidge you ready we're almost at the radiation belt/

/I need a few more minutes!/

-.-

"That's our cue," Jaz said and Tarin nodded. Stepping forwards, the Awoken woman's eyes began glowing and energy began rolling off her. Outside, white streaks of energy could be seen collecting together, trailing out in a large line across the void. Separating her hands, the condensed energy spread out meters above where the Paladins were working on their shield forming a shimmering blue layer over them.

Once the shield spread to its limit, Tarin's eyes began glowing a bright violet. Energy cracked up her arms as she thrust them forwards and those on the bridge could see the shield change, the diameter spreading out and changing to a light blue-violet hue.

-.-

/Jaz and Tarin are buying you time!/ Hunk informed. /Hurry up though. I don't know how long they can keep this up/

"I'm working on it!" Pidge growled typing as fast as she could.

Shiro chewed the inside of his cheek as his head began to spin. No, no, not now, this was not the time for another headache. His vision flickered and Shiro could swear he was standing in a temple, great beings towering over him as violet light came up from the ground around him.

/Last piece in place! Firing up that power Pidge!/ Hunk ordered.

It was now or never, Pidge ressed the final keys and deactivated her pad turning to watch the systems. She could hear them hum and whir as they began to emerge to life. It was working. "Shield's up!"

Shiro winced as his head hurt again and he could hear a lion's roar. Seeing a white lion in front of him, it leapt at him and his world exploded in pain.

"Shiro no!" Pidge exclaimed as Shiro cried out, putting his hands against his head. The systems began to shut down, losing power, and deactivating the shield.

-.-

"What's going on with the plates?!" Lance exclaimed as the energy rippling over them began to retreat. Looking down at the fratured plate, his eyes widned as he saw it sparking, right below Allura. "NO!"

Red shot forwards, ramming into Blue and knocking her aside as the plate exploded. Energy rippled over it and Lance screamed.

"LANCE!" Allura screamed leaping out of her seat. Launching herself out of Blue, she flew towards Red. "LANCE! PLEASE RESPOND!"

Squeezing through the crack in the Lion's mouth, she forced her way inside, ignoring the quick rush of air before the airlock slammed shut behind her. Sprinting up to the cockpit, she stopped spotting Lance slumped over in his seat.

"No. No, no, no no!" she gasped grabbing him looking for some sort of response, some sign of life. Lance had died. He had died…saving her.

Tears pricked her eyes. No. No, he wasn't gone. She wouldn't let him leave her.

Placing her hand on his head, she began chanelling power. She would share her life energy with him. And Lance would come back to her.

-.-

/Pidge fire up power!/ Hunk called getting the broken fragment in place.

"Radiation exposure in four…"

"Hold!" Jaz exclaimed grunting as the powerful energy began to hit their shield.

"…three…two…

The shield began to power to life.

"…one."

Jaz and Tarin grit their teeth at the strain, clear fracture lines appearing across their shield as the belt hit, skimming over the edges of the shield powered up underneath. "Hold!"

The belt's power passed and everyone sighed in relief. "Radiation sequence complete, recharge and prepare for the next."

Both Jaz and Tarin collapsed to their knees panting. "Let's never do that again."

"Agreed."

-.-

"Thank you, you showed us what it means to be Galra," the Commander said standing in front of Hunk. "Vrepit sa!"

The Yellow Paladin grinned. "Vrepit sa!" he repeated. "Man that's weird to say."


	44. Into the Abyss

Chapter 44

**A/N: hey guys! I'm back for another chapter of possibly one of the most confusing crossovers ever! Yay! Now, as you all know, I just own my OCs and this story, nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is video chat or intercoms"**

**T****_elepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

"You're my…Mom?" Keith breathed his eyes wide in shock. "H-How? How did you get to Terra? How'd you meet Dad? How—how are you so sure?!"

"I'm sure," she said. "This isn't how I hoped to meet you again, and this isn't how I wanted to tell you, but it's the truth. We can talk about this later."

The Titan bristled his ghost floating next to him nervously, "What?! You drop a bomb like this and tell me you'll explain later?!"

"We've got more important things to deal with right now."

"Like what? The Vex? The Hive?"

"We're going after the enriched quintessence that created Ranveig's superweapon."

Keith perked up as Krolia moved to the pilot's chair. "What? Kolivan and I've been searching for that for a while now."

Krolia nodded. "I happened to be with Ranveig when an unmarked cargo ship passed into his region. When we checked it out, there was no crew aboard and the ship had been almost torn to pieces. But inside, a single vat of quintessence remained, and it was unlike any other we'd ever seen."

"Did you check the navigation records?" Yorak asked.

"No, they weren't on the ship, however, I was able to analyze it personally. The radiation signature indicated it passed through the Quantum Abyss."

"Quantum Abyss?" Keith asked crossing his arms. "What's that?"

"It's a part of the galaxy where dense neutron stars orbit even larger dark stars. There, planets and other celestial bodies are being pulled and torn in different directions. It's a chaotic, ever-changing environment. And the presence of such massive objects has unusual effects on gravitational waves and space-time itself."

"Sounds an awful lot like the Vex portals," Yorak commented looking at the map shown on the screen.

"That's where we're heading?"

"Yes."

-.-

"Your father King Alfor was a gifted alchemist whose unique ability allowed him to infuse the Voltron ore with Altean energy, granting it and the Paladins access to the quintessence field," Lotor said typing on the monitor as Allura and Jaz worked on the comet-ship. "Now you Allura, possess that same gift."

"Hey! Feeling like chopped liver over here!" Jaz called him out.

"Our visit to Oriande has taught me more than I ever thought possible," Allura said. "Thank you."

"No, thank you Princess."

"Is no one going to comment how I literally grew up there and saved us hours of aimless wandering?"

"With your help we can finally supply the empire with quintessence," Lotor continued. "You are the key to bringing peace to the universe."

"Peace. My father wanted the same thing when he built the lions. It is an honor to follow in his footsteps and continue his work."

"What if I told you I'm supposed to be the next queen of the Awoken?" Getting no response from the dynamic duo Jaz sighed, blowing some of her hair out of her face. "I know who the Guardian is. He's one of my best friends actually."

"LOTOR?!" Tarin shouted raising a brow as she stood with Pidge, Hunk, and Lance down on the ground. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Yeah! You got started without us!" Pidge griped.

Hunk nodded, putting his hands on his hips. "You didn't think to call the engineers before you began building your inter-reality quinetessence field magical Altean alchemy super ship?"

"Right," Lance agreed crossing his arms.

"I appreciate that you want to help," Allura said, "but I'm afraid there's not much for you to do."

Lotor nodded, "Infusing the comet ore with Altean alchemy is quite different than simply building a ship."

"Magic," Hunk and Pidge grumbled. "Oh well, guess we have more time to intergrate those Galra shields with Altean tech. There's gotta be a way to do it."

"Sounds like my field then," Tarin smiled evaporating in a burst of black mist and Lotor jumped when she appeared beside them. "Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Lotor said. "I'd be happy to have your input." Opening a file he showed it to her and the couple began looking it over as Allura and Jaz started talking.

"You guys sure you don't need a fifth wheel?" Lance called up. "No?"

-.-

"I think we're here," Keith called as he slowed the ship down as he came across the strangest system he ever saw. Asteroids drifting in and out between planets, some seeming to have long tails.

"Bring us in and stay alert."

"Are you sure we should go in?" Keith asked driving the craft straight towards what appeared to be a dark star.

"Ranveig sent probes trying to track the quintessence. The probes picked up a path that was relatively unaffected by space-time."

Keith looking at the hologram Yorak was scanning analyzing the path. "Where does it go?"

"We never found out. All the probes were destroyed."

"Well that's reassuring," the ghost commented, spinning his shell. "Do you know what took them out?"

"I'm not sure. Keep sharp."

Keith activated his helmet and took a breath to calm himself down, not like they wouldn't be stretched into eternity if he made a wrong move.

"Keith, my scanners are picking up movement," Yorak warned and he looked at the scanner on the upper left of his helmet. Sure enough, right behind them were five bogies. The closest one came around the side and they looked at it. "What is that?"

"Yorak hide, things are probably about to get hairy."

"Understood," he said vanishing without a fight for once.

The white thing turned and went from an interesting white-eel animal thing, to a freaky, one-eyed spider that decided his ship was food.

"Krolia, we've got trouble!" he called watching one try to break the glass.

"We have to shake them loose before they breach the hull!"

"Hang on!" he growled gunning the engines, tossing two off.

Hearing a screech as one of the engines failed, he looked back to see one had somehow gotten in, but it didn't last long before Krolia shot it. "What's our status Keith?!"

"Ship's severely damaged, we've lost the thrusters, I'm not gonna be able to hold her!" he exclaimed before realizing they were drifting too far to the side. "We're getting pulled in! We need to ditch!"

Getting out of his seat, he ran next to Krolia as she slammed the hatch, sending them both shooting out of the fighter and away from the abyss. Landing on an asteroid, they both panted as they watched their ship blow up.

"What were those?"

"No idea, but they're gone now," she sighed in relief.

"So is our ship," Keith muttered. "The good news is my ghost downloaded the map. But right now, I don't want to summon any of my other ships, just until we reach as safe distance from the gravity wells."

"Excellent," Krolia said as they started asteroid hopping, "But I think as long as we stay within the borders, we should be good."

"That's basically what the map's showing me," he said landing next to her noticing the ground beneath him was shaking. "What's going on?"

They looked at the dark yellow thing he had been driving for, watching as it glowed and released a wave of light towards them.

Krolia turn, and grabbed onto Keith, using herself as a shield for him as the light engulfed them.

_Keith found himself sitting on the ground of a white plane. He was wearing his old Terran clothes, a white long-sleeved tunic with gold embroidery around the collar, a black belt around his waist, a cropped red vest matching the cuffs on his sleeves, dark pants, and his white, red, and black boots. He even had the pendant around his neck made from the first crystal he ever managed to summon from a Balmera._

_"Hello?" he called scrambling to his feet._

_He turned as an image formed and he saw his father wearing his casual clothes sitting next to Krolia on the bench of the dock at the Farm. In the Galran woman's arms was a small bundle._

_"We'll name him 'Yorak,'" Krolia said smiling fondly at the small baby sleeping in her arms._

_Allen laughed lightly, giving her a smile as he raised an eyebrow. "Maybe that can be his middle name. How about 'Keith?'"_

_Krolia looked up at the sky in thought, watching the forms of dragons, wyverns, and amphithere flying high above. "Keith Kogane…I like it," she smiled widely._

_"Look at that," Allen pointed as a ghost floated over and looked at him. _

_"Is this your baby, Guardian?" the ghost asked._

_"Sure is."_

_"…I can sense something from him, something I've never gotten in all my years roaming the universe. I think he's my Guardian. What's his name?" the little light said bobbing at Krolia happily, his shell spinning._

_Krolia smiled softly, looking rather uncertain. "His name is Keith Kogane."_

_"Hi, Keith, I'm your ghost," he said perching himself on Krolia's shoulder._

_"Can we name him Yorak?"_

_Keith blinked in shock, this was the day Yorak picked him…he was so having some words with him later. The area around him went dark as the familiar image of Hofkah vanished, leaving him standing in a dark area filled with violet cryochambers. Turning around, he froze as he saw Shiro, his eyes were violet and his hand was glowing as he glared at him. _

_Beside him, Keith thought he could make out the form of someone else, but he didn't know who._

_"What is this place?"_

_"I know."_

_"I'm going to grab one to study."_

_"I'll handle—!"_

_"It's ok."_

_"You're going to be alright!"_

_"We have to get back to the Castle."_

_"Shiro!"_

_"—RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Shiro's voice clear screamed over the others, filled with a rage he'd never heard before._

Keith gasped as he shot up light sparking along his body painfully, looking around, he found himself looking at Krolia. "What the pit was that?! Were those visions real?"

"Time collapses this close to dark stars. Going through its light triggers glimpses of that past and the future," Krolia stated helping him back to his feet.

They continued leaping through the asteroids, following the map Yorak had directed into both their helmets. Keith landed, energy arching off his body and breaking the rocks he was on.

"Keith! You're getting too close to the gravity wells!" Krolia warned as he started drifting through the void of space. "Use your thrusters!"

"I'm trying!" he said turning the thrusters on his back on to full power as he could feel the gravity pulling on him. Grabbing his knife, he attacked it to the cable on his waist and threw it into the nearest asteroid as Krolia leapt to the one beside it, grabbing onto the line. Throwing her arms up, she yanked her son out of the well towards her.

"Grab my hand!" she exclaimed and Keith reached grabbing onto her as another burst of light came from the dark star.

_Two monitors blinked to life as Krolia sat in her Galra fighter approaching Terra. Even from this far she could see the dark moon and the Traveler, as well as the constant flow of ships coming and going from the infamous Guardian home world. Some would travel to the Shore, others would head towards the Reef in the Sol System, and a few other ships would head towards other destinations of trade._

_/Is it possible?/ her partner for this assignment asked. /The signature's nearly identical to that of the Red Lion's/_

_"We should obtain the Guardian's blessings as well as visual confirmation before calling it in," Krolia stated. "The last thing Emperor Zarkon wants is for us to start a war with the Light Wielders."_

_/Negative. We've gotten another reading like this before. Besides the Guardians are too busy to help us search for what they consider to be a myth. There's a Voltron Lion on this planet. Call it in immediately/_

_Krolia remained silent, her grip tightening on her controls. Seems she would have to blow her cover sooner than later._

_/I said call it in. That's an order!/_

_"Vrepit Sa!" she replied pulling back on the controls. Dropping behind her partner she began to open fire._

_/You think you can take all the glory for yourself?/_

_"I'm not looking for glory," she hissed as he whirled on her and began shooting back, one of his shots hitting the wing of her ship. Baring her fangs, she hit both triggers, firing in reply before he could move out of the way. _

_Krolia began typing in an attempt to restore power to the thrusters as the large planet's gravity began to pull her in. Entering the atmosphere, she had just enough time to memorize the coordinates before crashing in the Cosmodrome._

_A large roar resounded through the air around her and she could make out the form of a large animal landing nearby before a smaller form jumped off. _

_The last thing she saw was a tall figure in red and white armor forcing the craft open with their bare hands and calling out to her in concern before everything went dark._

Keith gasped as he returned to the present and Krolia pulled him to the ground. "So, that's how you and Dad met," he murmured. "But…if a Lion was on Terra…how did it get to the other planets we found them on if the Red Lion was already captured?"

"We moved it," she stated. "After Sendak found the Red Lion, the Galra engineered a way to pick up on those lions' signatures from a close range. Zarkon had thousands of scouts searching for them. The Blade of Marmora made sure to embed agents in as many of those groups as possible. In an effort to prevent the Empire from obtaining anymore lions. I was just in the right place at the right time."

There was a rumble and they both turned quickly to see another one.

"Aw c'mon!" Keith groaned before light covered them again.

_Keith found himself standing in a cave where his father stood next to Krolia as his fireteam looked over the Blue Lion._

_"I never thought I'd see another lion in my lifetime," Krolia whispered in awe._

_"I never thought I'd see one, Voltron was supposed to be a myth," Ryzor stated twirling his pistol._

_Keith's father chuckled, putting his hands on his hips. "Traveler, you've been telling me about this ship for months, but this is beyond words," he breathed. _

_"Do you think the Guardians could keep it safe here?" Krolia asked._

_Allen frowned, looking up at the Blue Lion calculatingly. "That may be difficult. If we put guards here, our enemies are sure to discover there's something important here, and this would become a battlefront in no time. However…I know a place we can hide it. Ryzor, Joel, think you can hide its signature form Galra tech?"_

_"Do creech have bioluminescence?" the exo man said giving a thumbs-up. _

_"Where are you thinking of hiding it?" Krolia asked._

_"The Sol system. It has the other half of the Awoken civilization as well as my home planet. I just so happen to own some land miles from anything and there's a series of canyons with caverns we could bury the lion," he answered looking at her from the corner of his eye. "Are you going to contact your people about this? Continue your mission?"_

_"My ship being destroyed was the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn't go back if I could. I have a new mission now. I'm going to stay here and ensure the Blue Lion is hidden and protected."_

_Allen reached out and took her hand in his own with a fond smile. "I'm going to help."_

_"Ooh! Somebody's in love—OW!" _

"Wow," Keith breathed, "even though you had the resources to leave…you chose to stay?"

Krolia smiled and turned to him. "There was no better place I could be."

_"_C'mon, we better keep moving," Keith said and they began their infuriatingly long journey of asteroid hopping again. "We should be getting close enough for me to summon a ship soon."

"Good," Krolia said as they landed on another asteroid. There was a rumble and they could see white lines trailing the outline of space making both of them stop to look at it. "What is that?"

Keith narrowed his eyes as his hemlet zoomed in. He could make out a grid like pattern forming in the lines, forming a geometric shape. But why did it…oh quiznak. "Vex!" he exclaimed tackling Krolia down as the gate burst open.

Several loud shouts came from it and the mother and son duo raised their weapons as several figures crashed to the ground and stood up bearing their own arms. Keith stopped, recognizing the armor. Guardians. They were Guardians. Just like him.

Seeming to reach the same conclusion, they lowered their weapons. "You're one of us."

They heard something and turned to see a large animal that resembled a whale with flora and vegetation covering its back. it released a loud call that shook the ground and made them take a step back.

"What are those things?"

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like them," Krolia breathed, "but these creatures seem to know their way through the quantum abyss without falling into the space-time drop-offs."

"Amazing."

"Let's hop on those, they seem safer than this area, we can talk there," Krolia said taking the lead as they leapt onto the beast as another wave started.

_Keith found himself standing in his father's room back in the cabin in the desert, he spent many of his father's vacations there and lived in the small home for a while after the Tower's fall while his dad worked as a firefighter before heading back to Terra._

_On the bed his father and mother sat feeding him as a baby as the two ghosts watched curiously. "When did you even get this place?" Krolia asked looking around the home as she fed her son._

_Allen leaned back, looking thoughtful. "Don't know…it's been a long time. I've owned this place for the past...I think since a century or two after my revival. At least around a thousand years."_

_"That's…very specific," Krolia stated raising an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips. _

_Her husband smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it was around that time I got curious about my past life, you know, before becoming a Guardian. I looked into it—against the Vanguard's orders obviously. You see, when I was first revived it was in a graveyard in the nearby town, like any Risen I didn't know anything about myself. I had no name, no memories, it was just me in that graveyard that foggy night with my ghost," he said tapping the red and white ghost with his hand. "She told me that I'd been dead for only a few months, or weeks, when she'd found me. On the gravestone beside me, I saw the name: Allen James Volk. I liked the first name so I took that as mine and just came up with the rest of it as I went along. It wasn't till later I learned that I wasn't teleported upon revival. I looked into my history and found out I used to own this place before I died. So, I just bought it back; owned it ever since." _

_"Did you ever think of taking your old name back?" Krolia asked looking curious._

_Allen shrugged, "Too much paperwork."_

_On the nightstand, Krolia's knife began glowing and Allen's comm-screen came to life as his SIC stood in her armor. /Captain, Galra scouts have entered the atmosphere. Ryzor and Joel need more time to complete the set up for the Signal-Cloak/_

_"We need to stop them before they report back to their command," Krolia stated._

_/Understood. We'll ground them and hold them off till you arrive/_

_"Stand down," Allen ordered before looking to Krolia. "Will they want visual confirmation first?"_

_"Most likely, no one wants to make a mistake as big as this."_

_"Prepare an ambush, let them think they're alone."_

_/Yes sir/_

_"I have explosives, they're not powerful enough to destroy them, but if placed in the intake valve we can use the detonator to take them out," Krolia suggested as she got changed into her armor. Her husband having simply changed in a mere flash of light._

_"Sounds like a plan to me," Allen smirked. Going to the crib he gently picked up Keith and cradled him in his arms before going outside and walking to the large transport ship his fireteam had used to bring the Blue Lion to Earth. Walking inside he whistled and clicked his tongue. "Dusk. Dusky girl, where are ya?"_

_A loud grumble came from within the dark hold of the ship as the massive drake walked forwards, smoke blowing out of her nose. Bowing her head down, her ruby eyes locked onto the tiny bundle in Allen's arms. Crooning, she walked to the wall and lied down on a bed made of a bunch of mattresses shoved together purring as Allen set Keith between her massive paws._

_Ari's drake walked over to investigate, but before he could even walk in several yards, the massive female bared her fangs, snarling at him, her spear-like tail swinging back and forth, making the other drake back off._

_"Keep an eye on him girl, Yorak, you know what to do if he gets hungry?" Allen asked glaring at his son's ghost._

_"Yep!"_

_"Good!"_

_Running outside, Allen activated two of his sparrows. Hopping on, the pair gunned the engines and shot across the vast desert towards the caverns the were hiding the lion._

_Pulling up, the sparrows vanished and they both ducked behind rocks. "Mara, Ryzor, anyone up top?"_

_/One sniper, keeping an eye on the ships/ the exo Hunter replied, his tone practically showing his grin /Permission to take him out?/_

_"Granted," Allen nodded._

_Peering through his scope the exo chuckled. "Hello," pulling the trigger, the Galra fell without a sound, "and goodbye."_

_The two hunters jumped off their perches rolling as they landed and running over the Captain and his wife. "Put these in the intake valves of each other the fighters, when finished, use the detonators to activate the bombs," Krolia stated handing them the bag of bombs._

_"Understood," they nodded before darting off._

_"Joel, Ari, what's going on in the tunnels?" Allen asked as they ran in._

_/We have three teams for four working to break the reinforced shield Joel made, we're hiding up in the stalactites of the cave. Shall we launch the ambush?/_

_"And start the party without me?"_

_/It won't be much of a party/ _

_Allen smirked as he and Krolia ran into the room, the Galra woman grabbed her blade and hurled it into one of the devices, breaking it as the two turned with growls, as Krolia charged them. Ducking under the shots, she launched herself off the ground, kicking one away before lunging to her knife and knocked the gun out of the other's grip._

_The rest of the Galra activated their weapons, failing to realize she didn't enter alone as Allen's hands clenched into fists and the other two Guardians in the room dropped to the ground silently._

_"Drop your weapon!"_

_"You drop yours," Ari said as she, Allen, and Joel aimed their guns at them._

_The Galra froze, spotting the three Guardians, all wearing the sigils of one of Terra's most infamous fireteams. "You have precisely ten seconds to drop your weapons and let my wife go," Allen snarled, red energy arching over him._

_The men froze looking at each other, their options were slim, either surrender or fight the Rein Fireteam to the death._

_"Victory or Death!" one recited._

_"So be it," Allen snarled, as the light arched over him and the hammer of a Sunbreaker formed his grasp. _

_Krolia dropped and kicked one of the men restraining her over to Allen, the fiery Titan incinerating him as soon as the hammer made contact as he and his team completely obliterated the scouting party._

_"Did any escape?" Ari asked dropping her helmet._

_/No/ Mara replied smugly /everything's gone according to plan. Want me to set off the bombs?/_

_"Do it."_

_/You got it/_

_The image changed and Krolia stood in the window of the loft Keith lived in with his father back at the Tower, Allen stood next to Keith's crib tucking the baby in, moving the fingers of a hand he spent a few minutes regenerating after a wild dragon that had landed on the walls bit his arm off._

_"I have to go," Krolia said breaking the silence and she watched as his shoulders drooped._

_"I thought you said you'd seen enough war?" Allen said turning to look at her. "Ryzor's and Joel's program is functioning perfectly. They won't find the Blue Lion."_

_"Yes, but there's no telling if they won't find the others," she replied. "I need to report back to the Blade and stop the Galra from the inside." She walked over and took his hand. "I'm sorry, Allen, but this is the best way to keep you both safe from them. Guardian or not."_

_Krolia leaned down, kissing her son's cheek for the last time as he slept peacefully beside his ghost, tightly clutching the plushie of an Earthern animal known as a hippo. Grabbing her knife, she held it out to him. "This is for Keith. He may need it someday."_

_Allen took the knife with a solemn look, before pressing their foreheads together. "You know you will always have a home here."_

_"I know, Allen," she said giving him a quick kiss. "And I hope one day we'll see each other again."_

"I finally understand why you left," Keith whispered as they got onto the ship, removing their helmets as the door closed. "You put the mission above all else."

"That's not true," she said. "I left to protect the people I love most. You and your father."

"Wait…his father?" the Warlock questioned looking towards him. "…Keith?"

They eached removed their helmets and Keith's eyes widened in shock. A girl with yellow skin, orange eyes, and magenta hair wearing Hunter armor. A green-eyed Altean Hunter with tan skin and green marks. There was an Awoken warlock with maroon hair and red eyes, and a Titan hybrid girl with waist-length white hair and golden eyes.

"Wren? Silyna? Kol? Sky? Is it really you?" he breathed in shock.

No way, there was absolutely no quiznaking way his luck was this good. The universe had to be totally screwing with him. Keith Kogane, did not have enough luck to run into his old fireteam; he was more likely to get struck by lightning in the middle of the desert on a cloudless day or attacked by an acid-spitting hydra in the void of space, maybe both.

The group tackled him in a hug, and Krolia watched as her son reunited with his Guardian friends, his fireteam. "Traveler! It's so good to see all of you! Where've you been? What's going on? Why are you here? What's the word on the war?"

"Slow down Cap, we've got questions for you too!" Wren grinned slapping him on the back. "First off, who's she?"

"Guys, I want you to meet my mother, Krolia. Krolia, this is my Fireteam, Skylar, Kol, Wren, and Silyna."

"Your mom?!"

"Dude, you have so much to explain," Kol grumbled running a hand through his maroon hair.

"Let's make camp," Krolia said. "We can share tales while we all rest."

"I'll get firewood!"

"I've got water!"

"I'll make the tents."

-.-

"So Keith, what've you been up to since the evac?" Wren asked.

"Lived on Earth for a while, got bored, was kidnapped by one of the Voltron Lions, became a Paladin of Voltron, found out I was half-Galra, joined my Mom's rebel organization, found her on a mission, and now I'm here trying to complete said mission. You guys?"

"Whoa! Hold your hyperdrive! Voltron? That old legend our parents told us about when we were kids?" Skylar asked.

"Yea, turns out its real and our parents helped Krolia hide the Blue Lion on Earth."

"So which Lion did you pilot?" Silyna asked, her translucent-magenta fairy wings fluttering.

"Red and Black," he supplied.

"You drove two! Traveler! Why is it you always get the cool stuff?" Kol complained as Keith shrugged.

"So anyways, what's been going on with you guys? Any word on the Tower?" Keith asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"We ended the Red War a few years ago when the Traveler awakened. We've been building up an alliance with Emperor Callus ever since and hunting down the remains of the Red Legion."

"Yep, that's we all started to be able to go home. Your dad's been looking for you. He nearly ripped Sanda apart when she told him she didn't know where you were," Kol added.

"So how did you end up here?" Krolia questioned. "If you were all the way in the Krien System?"

"The Vex," Sky grumbled. "Osiris came back."

Krolia frowned, she didn't know who that was, but judging from the way Keith stiffened, he did. "What? I thought he and that stupid cult of his were exiled?"

"They were," Silyna nodded, her magenta wings twitching. "But his ghost was found, ended up possessing another Guardian. Right now, Ikora has teams running all over the Infinate Forest trying to locate Osiris and stop Panoptes."

Keith sighed, crossing his arms. "Which is what I'm assuming you were doing when you got sent here?"

Skylar nodded. "We were. But we went through the wrong portal, ended up here."

"Sounds like we've all had quite the adventure waiting to group up again," Wren chuckled as the others rolled their eyes.

"Speaking of adventures, what are you doing out here?"

"We're trying to locate the source of some strange quintessence shipments. We've tracked them through this sector. We have a map. We just need a ship."

"We all have our ships in storage. We just need supplies and food."

-.-

"Think the others are having any luck?" Keith asked as he and his mother continued walking, searching for supplies.

The group had split up into teams in order to collect what they needed: he and Krolia had assigned themselves to food duty, Wren and Kol were in charge of ship maintenance, and Sky and Silyna were finding water.

A blue comet flew overhead, making the duo stop as they watched it crash nearby. Running over, they ran through the vegetation to find a small blue wolf surrounded by strange bug-like creatures.

Seems they found their food.

It didn't take long for Keith and Krolia to slice through the armored bugs using their swords, Keith reluctantly not using his favorite because they didn't want dinner burnt to a crisp. However, it did take a while to drag the carcasses to the campsite Sky and Sil set up, the blue wolf pup following them all the way.

Krolia watched as the group of young adults ate dinner, telling stories about their favorite childhood memories on Terra, making a mission to tell her as many embarrassing stories about her son as he protested loudly, trying to win over the new pet wolf—Keith was its favorite so far—and pressuring Keith into talking about his adventures with Voltron.

It was hard to believe she had missed so much, Keith had gone on so many adventures in his short life, and he hadn't even become of age yet in Guardian standards. The point where he stops aging completely, in fact none of his fireteam had yet. They were still kids.

Looking at them she couldn't help but smile, Silyna and Skylar had chosen to sleep in the back of the cave, however the Faen girl's wings might've been smothering the Titan girl. Seeing that made her chuckle, there'd been moments she'd found Allen smothering himself in the pillows after passing out after a hard mission, not to mention there were plenty of moments where she'd come close to smothering him because of his God-awful snoring.

Wren had somehow wrapped himself up in his cloak, making him look like what Allen had called a burrito as Kol spooned him. Needless she got a photo, because while it would embarrass the two boys later, it also reminded her of the one-time Allen had taken her to see the creech for the first time, her husband had been grabbed and cuddled by a big red one for so long he just decided to fall asleep until it let him go.

She stored the photo of that incident somewhere.

Keith had elected to sleep closest to the entrance. He had tried to convince her to let him take the first watch, but something told Krolia if she let him, there was a strong chance he wouldn't wake anyone up to take over. Just like her husband did.

Besides, the kids needed rest for the long flight they had ahead.

Krolia smiled as she saw that at some point the wolf pup had slid under Keith's arm and chosen to cuddle with him. It was odd seeing such a familiar animal out here. Earth had the wolves and cyotes she remembered Allen showing her when they first went to the planet to try and find a spot of hide the lion; and Terra had the Fire Wolves that the Iron Wolves kept as pets.

She smiled softly watching the small pup lick Keith's nose as he slept, it was honestly one of the most adorable she'd seen in a long time.

The sight made her wonder if Allen ever got their son any pets? He probably did, considering she'd caught him holding Keith to show him the Dragon and Drake hatchlings more than once, and showing him the creech, and the Fire Wolves, and holding him up to play with Sahqo's horns. Needless to say the last one had almost made her scream the first time she caught him, because that wyvern had just licked Keith when she walked in.

And Sahqo was not a small wyvern, his head alone was massive enough to bite Allen in half if he wanted to, Keith would've just been a snack.

However, Allen's drake, Dusk always made a wonderful babysitter. While she was almost as big as her husband's wyvern, the large animal had instantly taken a liking to Keith and it made Krolia pity whoever tried to harm him after watching her completely fry an escaped Fallen Prisoner that had broken into their loft. Needless to say they found Dusk in Keith's room curled round the crib more often than not.

After that incident, it wasn't uncommon for her or Allen to place Keith with the colorful drake when they were busy and couldn't find the other. She'd found Keith more times than she could count between Dusk's paws with her playfully letting the baby bat at the ends of the massive tug-o-war rope when Allen would suddenly get called away for a mission or patrol while she was out shopping or working on the alliance between the Guardians and the Blade.

Seeing a flash from the corner of her eye, she watched as another time-flash came from the dark star and engulfed them.

_She stood on the Tower walls on a stormy night, she could hear the roars of the drakes, dragons, and wyverns occasionally spotting a column of different color fire shooting out of the mouth, outlining the massive creatures as something in the stormy skies seemed to be spooking them._

_Keith stood with his friends and several other kids she didn't recognize as they played with a light ball, something Allen had explained to her helped the younglings control their powers. The boy caught the ball, the light levitating between his hands before her son passed it to Silyna as she flew above them. _

_Their game was ended by the wail of a siren._

_She watched as the kids instantly stopped playing, looking to the skies with wide eyes as she saw the lightning crackle, outlining a fleet of warships heading right for the city._

_Then the bombs dropped and the screams began._

_The image changed and Keith sat on a small black and golden drake, about the size of what Allen called a horse when he took her out for a drive on Earth. Beside him, Allen sat on his own grey, violet, red and yellow drake Dusk, who was so large Krolia had to crawl up the tail the first few times she rode her. _

_What startled her, was that her husband's red and white armor was broken, barely clinging to him and covered in blood._

_"Allen!" Ari called riding over on a grey and orange drake. "There's a camp up ahead, all survivors there were slaughtered."_

_"Joel, is there another route to Hofkah?" Allen called, and for the first time in Krolia's life, she heard genuine fear in his voice. Even Dusk looked nervous as she shifted under Allen, the massive drake couldn't seem to stay still._

_The Warlock sat on his Griffin and looked at a map. "There's another way, through the mountains. It'll be cold, but the Cabal should stay away."_

_The warm forest changed to cold, snow-covered rocks and she could see the kids Keith had been playing with in the earlier flashbacks riding wyverns, drakes, dragons, and griffins of their own; the animals looking tiny compared to the full-grown counterparts surrounding them._

_Dusk stopped, snarling and lowering her massive head, baring her teeth. An unholy yowl filled her ears as she watched a small Enrix-sized red animal with violet spines on its back racing towards them._

_All the adults pulled their animals forwards, aiming their weapons as they began firing as more of the strange creatures appeared, followed by a Cabal soldier wielding a massive cannon of some sort. The drakes reared their heads, and shot fire from their jaws, turning their enemies to ash._

_Krolia found herself back at the Farm, or Hofkah as the Guardians called it, she could see Allen and his fireteam, all in new armor, looking over plans with an Altean woman she didn't recognize._

_"And how long do we have before the next evacuation ship leaves?"_

_"Thirty-six hours," the Altean with the navy marks on her dark skin replied, the phoenix on her shoulder cawing._

_"Think that'll be enough time to reach the shard?" Ari asked._

_"More than enough," Allen smirked picking up his gun and walking outside to where a red, yellow and white Wyvern reared back, flapping its wings, its spiny crests flaring. "Down Sahqo," Allen said patting his muzzle and climbing on to the massive beast._

_"Dad!" Keith called running up, holding his knife in his hand. "Where are you going?"_

_"We're heading for the shard, if we're lucky we'll get our light and immortality back."_

_"We're coming with!" some of Keith's friends exclaimed joining her son._

_"Kids, the Dead Zone is infested with Fallen, you could be killed!" Mara protested._

_"Better than living the rest of our days on the run!" Wren called._

_Krolia whipped around as the lush forests faded and she found Keith sitting on the couch in the desert house in front of Allen as he knelt in front of him wearing his armor. Nearby a nervous man in a grey military uniform stood next to a truck trying not to interrupt. _

_"I'll be back as soon as I can Keith, we've all agreed that the bastards who took our home will pay. Think about it this way, as soon as we have the Tower back, you'll get your old room, your pets, and everything will go back to normal."_

_"Where am I going if you're not here?!"_

_"This man is from the Galaxy Garrison, his name is Iverson, he's promised me that you'll be set up with some of their senior officers. They'll take good care of you till I get back," Allen reassured motioning to the nervous man. "If you think something is wrong just call him, alright?"_

_"But I want to stay here with you! What if the Cabal take away your Light again! What if you don't come back! What if—"_

_"Hey," he said running his hand through Keith's hair, "everything's going to be fine. You'll see. If you worry, just pray, like I do, it'll all work out."_

_Allen's gaze softened before pulling Keith into a hug. "I promise pal, and just remember, no matter what happens, no one can ever take away my love for you, and I know one day your light will shine brighter than mine ever did."_

_"I love you too Dad," Keith sniffled, hugging back._

_The land before her changed again, and Krolia found herself standing in a yard full of kids, under a tree in the corner, she could see Keith hiding, sporting a bruise on his face and a bloody lip as he watched the other kids warily._

_"Hey freak!" an older boy taunted spotting Keith hidden behind the tree._

_"Leave me alone, I don't want any trouble," he whispered. He was already in trouble for getting some extra food because he was hungry and already had his lunch and snack privileges revoked for the day. He didn't want to lose dinner too. _

_"Well then if that's the case, then I want you to do my chores today, you see, I have a thing with some friends this evening, and considering you're the freak who no one wants to be friends with I figured you had the free time to do them."_

_"No, I won't do your work for you, that won't get you anywhere in the future," Keith retorted remembering what his father had told him when he'd tried to convince him to help deconstruct his first weapon._

_"Look here brat, you're going to do them or else!"_

_Keith narrowed his eyes and stood up to his full height, and while he only reached the boy's chest, that didn't intimidate him in the slightest. He'd killed bigger. "Make me!"_

_The older boy drew his fist back, and swung forwards, sidestepping, Keith grabbed his arm, twisted it and hurled the older boy over his shoulder so hard he bounced off the ground and landed near the fence._

_He got up and wiped the blood at his nose in shock before smirking. "Miss Ryland!" he cried putting on a show of tears as he ran up to a woman sitting on the porch reading a book. "Keith hit me! He asked if we could let him play with our frisbee and when I said no he hit me!" Showing her his bloody nose, the woman looked towards Keith and narrowed her eyes. _

_"Kogane! Over here! Now."_

_Gulping, Keith went over, nervously tucking his hands in the pockets of his only hoodie. "Yes ma'am?"_

_"Did you do this?"_

_"He tried to hit me first! I was just—" Keith protested._

_The lady clicked her tongue. "Now, that's not the story Christian just told me," she said grabbing his wrist and dragging him inside. Taking Keith upstairs, she closed the door and pulled out a belt. "Now, that's five for hitting your peers and five for lying, as well as revoked dinner privilages. Turn around."_

Krolia pulled herself out of the past, wiping away the tears. She could still smell the burning bodies, hear the scream of those dying. Had these kids, her son, really lived through that?

Looking at them, she resolved to look after each of them, after all, no child could go through such a thing and not have scars. And with experience in war, maybe she could help heal them.

Going over to Keith, she sat next to him and looked at him as he slept, his expression saying his sleep was anything but peaceful. Running her hand gently through his hair, she smiled as she watched him relax. Just like his father would when she comforted him on the nights he fell asleep first, the nights his nightmares were the worst.

She may have missed a lot Keith's life, but she was going to keep her promise.


	45. Secrets

Chapter 45

**A/N: hey guys I'm back again! Now, for those who are curious, since the Guardians hve their own ships it doesn't quite take them two years to get through the abyss, more like a few weeks. But trust me, Keith still got his awesome growth spirt because how could I leave that out?**

**Remember, I just own this story and my OCs in it.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold it intercom/video chat"**

**T****_elepathy/flashbacks/dreams_**

"I think we made it," Krolia said and all five Guardians and their ghosts scrambled forwards and surrounded her.

"Wow."

"Finally," one of them muttered.

Krolia rolled her eyes as their sounds of relief, Guardians seriously had no patience. She recalled many moments where she'd have to hold Allen back because his patience had finally run out; and the sad thing was that he was one of the most patient members on his fireteam.

"Focus guys," Keith growled, taking command as they began going through the light portal before them.

"And at last I see the light!" Wren sang as they entered.

They came through the portal and after letting Silyna smack her boyfriend, they looked out the cockpit window to see a red planet.

"It's a planet," Kol said.

"Really? I had no idea I thought it was a bouncy ball!" Sky grumbled sarcastically.

"There's readings coming from it," Yorak said. "They match the quintessence Ranveig found."

"Match the signals we've gotten too," Skylar's blue ghost agreed.

"Let's check it out," Keith said. "Everyone, suit up."

-.-

"Am I the only one confused about the dome in the desert?" Wren asked.

"This must be the source of the readings," Krolia said.

"How do we get in, front door?" Silyna asked looking through the scope of her sniper rifle Kosmo barked in reply. "Is that a yes?"

"It's Galra, we can use the vents," Keith said running towards the dome. Getting close he jumped and activated his jetpack, landing on the top. Kol picked up their wolf and flew up as everyone else followed Keith's example, joining the Warlock, wolf, and Titan just as Keith kicked the vent in and jumped inside.

The wolf teleported after, appearing next to Keith as one-by-one Krolia motioned the others inside as she watched for possible guards on the roof. Seeing no alarms had been tripped, she jumped in landing next to her son and her horde of adopted Guardian children.

Keith looked at the scans Yorak was giving him, looking to his team, he got nods, their ghosts were giving them the same data. Darting through the halls, the came to a door and opened it finding it lead to a…field.

"Juniberries?" Keith murmured, recognizing the pink flower from his time with Voltron, that was the same flower Coran used to snap Allura out of whatever trance the corrupted AI had her in.

"What in the light?" Kol murmured as they entered, looking up to see birds flying overhead. "Where are we?"

"Don't know, could be a trap," Sky hissed.

Keith dropped his helmet and looked around. So far there was no signs of intelligent life, but perhaps if they looked in the forest, they could get some answers. "C'mon, the forest may have a village, we can ask questions when we find it, someone had to build this place," he said.

"If we die, I'm going to kill you," Wren said.

"Wren!" Krolia scolded.

"Sorry Mama Kogane," the Altean boy winced.

"It's beautiful," Sil admired.

"Yea, though it's weird not seeing any big animals," Kol murmured getting a couple grunts of agreement.

Keith held up his fist and crouched. "Wait…hear that?" he whispered and they all nodded, reaching for their weapons. "Fan out."

They spread out approaching the sound from different directions. Keith darted forwards, crouching behind a tree as he could see a river, and a woman with long golden hair. "Stand down, it's a civilian," he called.

/Rodger that/

/Draaf, I was hoping for some action/

Keith slowly started coming out from behind the tree, and her long ear twitched before she turned around, revealing a pretty face with violet eyes, and teal marks. "An Altean."

"What—who are you?!" she stuttered taking on a weak fighting stance as she glared at them.

"I'm Keith, this is my mother Krolia," he said motioning to the woman standing just behind him, before petting his wolf's head, "this is Kosmo."

"I'm Wren, pleased to meet you," the Altean Hunter smiled dropping his invisibility and getting a broken nose as the woman screamed and punched him.

"Get away from me!" she hissed.

"Easy, we don't want to pick a fight," Keith said raising his hands.

"Then why are you here?" she demanded.

"We're looking for a source of strange energy or quintessence, this is where we tracked it to," Sky said pulling Wren to his feet.

Her eyes widened for a second, and for a moment, Keith thought he saw a glimmer of excited hope in her violet eyes. "You are?" she went quiet for a moment before looking at all of them. "Are you working with Lotor?"

"Huh?"

"Who?"

"Did she say Lotion?"

"Who hated their child so much they named them Low Turd?"

"No," Keith said crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. Just what did she know about the Galra Emperor? He still didn't fully trust him, but if he was going to find a reason, looked like he'd just found the place to do it. "Why? Do you know what we're looking for?"

The young woman's shoulders slumped. "Thank the Ancients," she breathed, "as for your question, I believe I do. Please sit," reaching into her satchel she pulled out some of the food she'd brought with her, "would you like some?"

"Thanks," Keith said taking a roll and a piece of meat, giving the latter to Miiraak as the others grabbed a small portion themselves.

"May I ask, who are you working for?" the Altean asked hesitantly.

"We're Guardians, sent out here to investigate sources of mysterious energy that might signify the possible experimentation with powers beyond the control of someone like Lotor," Skylar informed curtly. "The Captain of our Fireteam and his mother are also associated with a Galran Rebel force known as the Blade of Marmora and Voltron."

The woman's eyes widened in shock. "You're all really Guardians?"

"All except me," Krolia stated.

"You know of us?" Keith asked and she nodded.

"Yes sir," she nodded, "you see, this colony is run by Lotor, he told us stories of your power many times. Tell me do you truly fight for what is just in this universe?!"

Kol nodded in confirmation. "We protect life, light, and justice," Kol recited the somewhat cliché phrase the Speaker had told them as kids. "Why?"

She looked around the forest and made a motion. "Follow me," she said. Leading them through the forest, they found themselves at the edge of a town, where they could see Alteans wondering around, working, and trading below. The blonde Altean quickly jogged to a small home that resembled all the others and opened the door. "Come in! Quickly!"

"So what's with all the secrecy?" Silyna asked as they snuck inside and let her close the door.

"I apologize, but the people here would no doubt inform the guards of your arrival, and you would not be able to learn of what I've discovered," she spoke quietly. "Please, you're more than welcome to sit anywhere you like."

"Maybe you need a seat for what you're about to tell us Miss…" Keith offered pulling out a chair.

"Romelle, Romelle Whywl," she introduced herself taking the offered seat with a dip of her head. "You see, every Altean here knows the story of how Lotor saved us from the Galra. He found those of our people who had gone into hiding, having been off-world at the time of Altea's destruction. He established this colony in order to preserve our people, but some deca-pheobs ago Lotor announced he was establishing a second colony to increase our odds of survival, and every deca-pheob since, every Altean in the colony has undergone a series of tests to determine if they were fit for the journey. Being chosen was considered the highest honor, many of my friends and even my parents had been selected before. However, I realized something was wrong when my younger brother Bandor became of age to go through the tests."

Romelle reached beside her, grabbing the picture of a young aburn-haired Altean boy with wide, bright blue eyes and blue marks off the table beside her, looking at it fondly.

"He was always faithful to Lotor and was so excited when he passed the tests to get to travel to the new colony. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen, however, he did give me this," she held up a small device that reminded Keith of what once had been known as a computer mouse, "to communicate secretly with me."

"Why secretly?" Skylar questioned narrowing her eyes.

"Communication between the two colonies is forbidden," Romelle stated looking down. "When he left, I was completely alone and his communicator never sent a signal to me or worked when I tried to call him. Until a couple pheobs ago it went off in the middle of the night; Bandor called me, saying he was in the forest just outside of town where I had met all of you. I raced through the dark to find a crashed ship, Bandor was lying in the cockpit, his skin was drawn and pale—he looked like a corpse. It was there Bandor told me what I had feared for so long, the other colony, it's a lie. Lotor is doing something to the colonists there, something that I believe is killing them all! My brother, parents, and countless others!"

"Why haven't you gone to the authorities?" Wren asked.

"Hey geinus, from the sounds of it the Alteans here worship the very ground Low Turd walks upon," Kol scolded.

"Oh…that's why."

"Given your brother's weakened state he couldn't have piloted his ship for very long," Keith said crossing his arms, "the other colony has to be nearby."

"Close enough for Lotor to visit easily, but far enough so any Alteans who decide to explore the planet don't find it by accident," Kol stated.

"There is a moon orbiting this planet that could house a colony," Krolia added.

"Which one, there are several," Wren said having Gaff pull up a holo-map.

"This one most likely," Krolia said pointing at the largest. "It has a breathable atmosphere and basing it on the number of Alteans taken, it would have to be a large facility, none of the other moons hold the capacity to support that many people."

"If they're still alive," Sil added. "We don't know how soon this 'killing' process starts."

"Well, let's assume that they get the clothing and food there before whatever is going down happens, then what do you think?" Skylar remarked. "We don't even know what they're doing with the bodies."

"If they're burying them it would have to be the large moon," Kol shrugged.

"I got the shipments," Wren said looking over a screen. "It does look like they get shipments of clothes, food, and other supplies, meaning this facility needs to house the living at some point."

"It's our only lead," Keith frowned. "Romelle do you know when the next selection takes place?"

"Why, what's your plan Captain?" Silyna questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"If it takes place soon, Wren and Skylar could enter and pretend to be colonists, figure out exactly what's going on, assuming our mission connects with Romelle's theory," he stated. "Meanwhile we'd follow behind and bust them out if they send a distress signal."

"The next one doesn't take place for another few pheobs," Romelle replied solemnly.

"We don't have time for that," Kol reminded. "We could take our ship, check it out now."

Keith nodded. "That would be best, if it was a few days away I would be willing to wait, but considering we don't know what Lotor's motives are as of now, we need to move as quickly as possible."

"I'm coming with you!" Romelle said shooting to her feet.

"I don't know…this could be dangerous and you're ju—" Wren began before the Altean woman grabbed him by the hood of his cloak.

"I am coming with," she growled, "I refuse to sit by idly!"

They all looked at Keith whom just shrugged. "We should get to the ship."

They waited till dark came to go back to the ship since it was less likely for them to have any followers notice them at that time. Romelle led the way to which they arrived, the Guardians' ghosts quickly opening the doors so they could leave without tripping any alarms. Keith gave their newest member one of his old spare helmets before the door to the desert outside opened.

Summoning their sparrows, Keith got on his, Krolia hopping on just behind him as Romelle sat with Skylar. Activating their engines, they shot forwards, making Keith smirk as he heard Romelle give a startled cry and Skylar grunt as the Altean squeezed her.

Pulling up to the ship they ran inside, Krolia taking the helm. "Everyone make sure your ammo is stocked and that you're all wearing the proper armor. We don't know what exactly is going on here but we need to be prepared. Skylar, Silyna, check between the two of you and see what spares you have that will fit Romelle. Better have our enemies think they're dealing with a whole Guardian group before realizing there might be a noncombatant with them."

"Should we arm her?"

"How good's your aim?" Keith asked.

"Um…fair, my parents let me hunt with them a couple times before they went to the colony," she said.

Keith nodded, scrolling through his inventory. "Ghost what do you think?"

_"How about the Sondok-C? It doesn't have much of an impact, but it's stable and has a range large enough to keep her out of any Galra's path."_

"Works for me," Keith said and the gun materialized in his hand. "You'll be using this. It's got a good range, so you don't have to get close if we encounter anybody. And the kick ain't as bad as some of my other weapons. The scope is right here, here's the trigger, and when we get in you'll want to turn off the safety here. You're going to want to hold this with both hands, otherwise it won't be stable enough to shoot."

"Thank you," Romelle smiled nervously taking the weapon and setting it down next to her as she looked through the spare armors the two female Guardians had with them.

"We're getting close to the moon," Krolia warned, and everyone began doing a final gear check.

"Scans are picking up something down there," Sil's ghost called.

"Atmosphere's breathable," Wren's ghost added.

"Everyone be ready to move as soon as this bird touches the ground, we move swift and fast, remember this is a stealth mission, do not engage unless absolutely necessary," Keith ordered putting on his helmet.

Krolia landed the ship, and they all got off hopping on sparrows and driving over to the nearest ridge. Pulling to a stop, Keith pulled his sniper rifle off his back and looked through his scope. "No guards…this place seems almost deserted."

"Closest door is on the east side," Silyna said. "No guards or cameras."

"Seems Lotor didn't think this place would be found," Krolia commented.

"Appears so," Keith said slinging his rifle over his shoulder. Starting his sparrow again, he led the way to the door, he and his mother hopping off, Miiraak appearing next to him as they snuck in through the vents and dropping into a deserted hall.

Pulling out his knife, Keith looked for any guards they failed to notice in their initial scope, seeing the coast was clear, he darted up, shoving his blade through the doors, forcing them apart before he and Sky stuck their hands in, using their strength to force it open. Keith fell back as the other Titan peered through with her gun before giving the all clear signal.

Slipping inside the locked room, they stared as it was lined with stasis pods…or, at least they looked like stasis pods.

"What is this place?" Kol hissed.

"Anyone else feel that?" Sil growled, her wings flaring out from under her cloak.

"Yea…darkness," Wren said curling his lip as he adjusted the grip on his rifle.

Romelle went up to one of the pods, wiping away the layer of fog that had formed over the glass before she reeled back, her hands over her mouth in horror. "No! Petrulius! What's happening to them?! These people were supposed to be headed towards the colony!"

Keith felt his stomach drop as all the dots began to connect. "Lotor's harvesting their quintessence."

"By God," Sky whispered. "Kol, any idea how to stop this?"

The Warlock ran over and summoned his ghost. "Gaaf, analyze these," he ordered as he began hacking into the system.

"Anything?"

"Not yet," he growled. "They're still alive, Lotor has the harvesting process designed at a rate so the host isn't completely drained, allowing them to produce more."

"Any clues as to what he's using the quintessence for?" Krolia asked.

"Nothing as of yet…draaf! It's getting to an encryption level I can't break, we'll need to get this to a Cryptarch!"

"How soon will you be able to transmit?"

"I'll need to be out of the quantum abyss," Kol said gritting his teeth as he kept trying to get past the firewall.

"We'll need to warn Voltron too," Keith said. "Romelle, you're coming with, Allura and the Paladins need to hear what you told us, and we can protect you from Lotor should he discover our break in."

"But we can't just leave them here!"

Keith put a hand on her shoulder to calm the Altean woman down. "And we won't, but we need to figure out a way to extract them without any risk, if we removed them now, they would suffer the same fate as Bandor."

"We should get moving, no time to waste," Krolia ordered.


	46. Lies

Chapter 46

**A/N: once again, I just own the story and OCs in it.**

**/comm/**

**"Bold is intercom/videochat"**

**_Ghost telepathy/flashbacks/dreams_**

"Are we sure this will work?" Hunk asked as they watched Lotor and Allura pilot the Sincline ship towards where the rift of Dibazaal had been. "I can't be the only who sees this is nuts? Just getting in there's a long shot. There's no telling if they'll be able to get back out."

"I agree with Hunk," Coran stated crossing his arms. "This whole plan is a foolhardy and unnecessary risk."

Pidge frowned and crossed her arms as well, "I don't know. We've traveled through the quintessence field to another reality before. So it isn't just theoretical physics, we now it's possible mathematically."

"Well it is hard to argue with math, believe me, I've tried!" Coran grumbled.

"But even if they do reach the quintessence field, then what? The last time anyone got in there Zarkon turned evil," Lance pointed out.

"Lance makes a point! Take that math!"

"Zarkon fell prey to his own evil instincts," Shiro replied, "the quintessence field didn't create them, it revealed them."

"Maybe," Tarin frowned, "I researched the ancients for years with…my husband. Logs indicate that Zarkon might have been possessed by void creatures that came from the abyss."

"Where Allura and Lotor are going right now," Jaz remarked.

They all turned to see the ship approaching the breach-point.

"So this is goodbye, for now," Coran whispered.

"Allura."

/Yes Lance?/

"Get back safely."

/I will/

"T-minue ten ticks till gate entry," Coran said starting the coutdown. "Nine…eight…seven…six…five…four…three…two…one."

They watched as the constructed portal began to glow brightly as the ship passed through, before it dulled down unexpectedly and they all looked for a signal from the ship.

"I'm not getting anything," Pidge said. "They must've made it through."

"Must have," Jaz sighed and Tarin nodded, anxiously biting on her claws.

"Hopefully," Coran frowned before the alarms began flashing.

"What is that?"

"Incoming craft."

Shiro narrowed his eyes. "Shields up and pull it up on screen."

Pidge tapped a few keys and they zoomed in on the ship…or well, ships. There were six in total, each looking different from the others. The lead ship reminded them of a boomerang shape, with black and silver coloring and a metal tail coming off the back. The ship to the right resembled a flying tank with blue and white coloring. To the left, a military style ship with green camo patterns on it. In the back was a small, shield shaped ship with vribant greens and blues on it. On it's side was a ship that reminded Shiro of the Garrison's fighter jets, just red and white. "They're not Galra, rebels?"

"Let's find out," Shiro stated. "Unidentified craft, this is the Castle of Lions, identify yourself!"

A comm-screen opened and they were greeted by the Titan Guardian in the black and red armor, his ghost flying just above his shoulder. **"Voltron, we need to talk."**

"Oh…uh…of course," Shiro stuttered in surprise.

"Is it just me, or does he look bigger?" Lance commented.

**"Where's Lotor?"**

"He's inside the quintessence field, sir," Tarin chimed in.

**"Draaf!" **the Guardian cursed and they thought they heard a few other muttered curses from offscreen.

"We're opening a hangar, fly in and tell us what's going on," Jaz said.

**"Understood."**

-.-

Racing down into the hangar, they all stood back as the ships landed. Their ramps lowered and the Titan walked down, flanked by a feminine Titan in white and green armor, a Warlock wearing a violet and gold jacket and armor, a female Hunter with dark green armor and magenta wings flicking from under her long cloak, and a male Hunter wearing dark brown armor and a black cloak.

"Guardians, it's an honor to meet you," Tarin greeted with a bow.

"We've met before Tarin, and I deeply apologize for my deception to all of you," the leader stated, dropping his helmet and they all stared with wide eyes as a familiar mess of black hair fell out and the Titan moved the dark locks out of his face, revealing a set of distinct violet eyes.

"K-Keith?" Shiro stuttered.

"Wait, how do we know you're really Keith and not some cooler doppelganger?" Lance demanded and he was answered as a familiar Marmoran blade was held up.

"I don't have time for this Lance!" Keith snapped.

"Hey everyone Keith's back!"

"How…How are you a…?" Shiro trailed off, trying to find the words.

"It's a long story, one we'll have to explain later," the white Titan stated as her helmet vanished, revealing a pale woman with gold-amber eyes and white hair long enough to rival Allura's.

"Right now, our current objective is to stop Lotor," Keith continued tossing Sky a warning glare. "He's been lying to all of us!"

"Lying about what?" Shiro asked.

"Everything!"

Following the sound of the voice, all eyes turned to the blonde Altean woman storming out of the ship followed swiftly by a tall Galra woman and a bright glowing wolf.

"You're…You're Altean!" Coran exclaimed.

"She's not the only one, the brown Hunter stated removing his hood and dropping his helmet, revealing a slightly tan Altean man with pale hair and green marks that matched his eyes. Beside the Altean Hunter, the other Hunter dropped her covers, revealing a yellow woman with red marks and bright magenta hair as the Awoken Warlock slicked some of his maroon hair back, his red eyes looking over them.

"Silyna? Skylar? Wren? Kol?" Jaz spoke up stepping forwards. "Is it really you? Uh—How?"

"Long story short: Vex," Sky answered and Jaz nodded.

"That makes sense."

"Wait, Jaz you know them?" Lance asked. "Who are all of you?"

"Is that a wolf?" Hunk asked.

"I promise, I'll explain everything once we have handled Lotor," Keith stated firmly.

"We can't get to him, he just entered the quintessence field with Allura," Pidge stated, adjusting her glasses and they all watched as the Guardians paled and looked between each other.

"Voltron travelled through realities before, can't you go in there and attack?" the white-haired Titan questioned.

"Allura's with him, we can't risk hurting her," Lance restated.

"Why are we even attacking?" Tarin questioned. "What did Lotor do this time?!"

"Lance is right, you did change," Shiro smiled and Keith looked over to him, flashing a softer grin of his own.

"Time's been a little different where I've been. Pit, if we didn't get lucky enough to bump into my old fireteam, I would've been gone for longer…maybe."

The Galran woman stepped forwards looking at the Black Paladin. "Shiro, I am Krolia, Keith has told me all about you," she greeted holding out a hand. "Thank you, for helping raise him to be the man he is today."

While a little confused, Shiro accepted, Keith hardly ever spoke about his personal life—though now he might've just figured out why—so why would he open up to a random Galra?

"Krolia is with the Blade of Marmora," Keith stated. "Also…she's my mother."

Shiro's eyes widened for a second, glancing between her and Keith he suddenly felt stupid. The resemblance was obvious, Keith was almost a copy of her. "It's an honor to meet you."

"WHAT?! THIS IS NUTS!" Lance exclaimed. "You come back here, wearing Guardian armor, with a bunch of Guardians, your Galra mom, a wolf, and an Altean?!"

"Yes, I'm still waiting to hear the story about the Alteans," Coran said motioning between the blonde one and the Guardian one.

"Well, I'm Wren, I'm a Kiin born and raised on Terra with a colony of other surviving Alteans under the protection of the Guardians," the hunter introduced himself.

"I'm Skylar Fenris, Kiin and human-Altean hybrid or a Maltiid," the white-haired Titan stated. "Laat Hiim was full of refugees of numerous races from across the known universe. Alteans just so happened to be one of the common species."

"Awoken like Jaz and I were also common," the Warlock said. "I'm Kol, by the way."

"Wait! So that's why you never told us anything?!" Pidge exclaimed whirling on Jaz. "You and Darvah lied to us?!"

"Alright, everyone just calm down," Shiro said trying to take a handle on the situation, "we can get this all sorted out when they return."

Getting to the bridge, they watched as the Guardians stretched out, the Warlock going to keep watch on the scanners as the others gathered around.

"What's going on? Why do we need to be attacking Lotor?" Hunk questioned.

"This is Romelle, and I think you'll like to hear the story she told us," Keith stated stepping aside from his defensive position and motioning her forwards.

Nodding, Romelle took a breath to calm herself down, "I come from a planet where there are thousands of Alteans, we have lived there since the war with Zarkon began."

"What, that's impossible, Altea was destroyed," Coran said. "Allura and I were the only survivors."

"On the contrary," Wren said. "Alteans were diplomats, colonists, and traders, so many were off world upon Altea's destruction. My own clan was working with the Fae, Hevnoan, Alasian, Awoken, and Wuldians in the Krein system when Altea was lost."

The yellow-skinned girl stepped forwards, nodding to Wren. "So when news of Altea's destruction reached us, we let the survivors hide among us since they could easily pass as Fae or Alasian, and sent evacuation teams to other known colonies, bringing them to my home system. However, even with our advanced methods, we couldn't find all of them, which is where Romelle's story comes into play."

"You see, every child on my world knows the story of how Lotor saved us from destruction. Many went into hiding for deca-pheobs, but those who were not found by the Fae, were instead found by Lotor, whom used his deep knowledge of Altean culture to track them down and he made them an offer they could not refuse. To keep the Altean's secure, Lotor developed a colony on a remote planet beyond the quantum abyss."

"So, Lotor saved Alteans?" Coran asked.

"Man, he's much nicer than we thought," Hunk commented.

"Wait, why didn't he go to Terra's Alteans?"

"Well, by time it was probably under the protection of the Guardians—if I remember my history correctly," Tarin stated tapping her chin.

"And ticking off the Light Wielders is the last thing anyone wants," Krolia smirked and the trader nodded.

"Not to mention he might not have known, the Fae greatly resemble Alteans, Lotor himself could pass as one if you added marks and wings," Tarin added. "However, even if this took place before their rise, Terra was an extremely dangerous planet, without a native the odds of dying in the first day were quite high."

"Oh, those odds are still the same," Wren smiled.

"No kidding."

Keith cleared his throat, seeing he got everyone's attention, he motioned for Romelle to continue. "You see, over time, the Alteans of my colony began to worship Lotor as their savior; and generations ago in order to increase the odds of our survival, Lotor abruptly announced he was establishing a second colony far from our own. However, in order to do so, each Altean in the colony was given a series of tests to see if they would survive the journey; being chosen was the highest honor," she continued. "Communication between the colonies was strictly forbidden, for fear that it could compromise the other's location. My little brother Bandor had always been faithful to our supposed messiah, I however, had always been skeptical. When he grew old enough to be assessed for the journey, Bandor was selected to leave immediately. I tried to stop him, but he insisted it was Lotor's will, and my deepest regret is not being able to stop him. I would've tried harder, had I known what was going to happen."

She took a calming breath, wiping away a small tear before continuing, "Before Bandor left, he gave me a communicator so we could call each other in secret, however, it never worked. Until one night…Bandor called me, his voice weak and frail, he told me I was right, before informing me of his crash site. I raced through the woods faster that night than I ever had in my life, and I found him, my little brother, lying there in the shattered cockpit of a ship. Bandor looked like death, he was malnourished and pale, his skin so drawn it resembled a skeleton. His last words to me were that the other colony Lotor had created was a lie. I escaped before the guards sent to handle the crash found me, and only I knew the truth—or at least part of it, but without proof no one in the colony would believe me. When Keith, Krolia, Wren, Skylar, Kol, and Silyna arrived, they were my last chance at finding it."

"Romelle explained her story to us, and we believed it was connected to the reason we were sent to investigate the quantum abyss," Kol stated. "Taking our ship, we went to the planet's moon, and we found this." The Awoken Warlock waved his hand, letting Gaaf appear. "Show the footage."

"Alright, be warned, this may be disturbing," his ghost said flashing the hologram to life, showing the mission.

The Paladins could see Keith in his armor moving ahead of them, as he ran towards a door with Skylar. Both Titans forced their hands between and forced the massive doors apart as the two Hunters aimed their weapons and motioned the group forwards into the dark halls. Going through another set of doors, they watched the party travel through a hall lined with pods before Romelle went up to one, before scrambling back, stifling a scream.

The camera moved wildly, before they all sucked air through their teeth, inside the pod, was a dark-skinned Altean man whose skin was so drawn he resembled a mummy, his eyes were glassy and lifeless.

The they could only make out the words Keith spoke in the video over their mixture of shock, disgust, and absolute horror. _"Lotor's harvesting their quintessence."_

The video cut out and the ghost vanished, leaving them all in shock.

"Oh. My. God," Lance breathed.

"All this time…" Tarin trailed off looking horrified covering her mouth with her hands.

"He was playing us," Hunk almost growled.

Jaz's eyes glowed, "I'm gonna kill him!"

"He's a monster," Keith hissed, "I can't believe I gave him the means to claim the Galra Empire's throne."

"A mistake we will rectify," Wren snarled loading his gun.

"Tarin," Hunk spoke up and they all looked to her. "He's your husband?"

Enraged tears ran down her face, her fists clenched by her side. "All this time. He never told me. I stood by his side for _years_! I d_efended _him! And…and he…" she clenched her eyes shut, baring her fangs. Taking a breath to clam herself down, she glared up at where Lotor had vanished. "I won't stop you. If this is true, then he deserves a fate worse than death!"

The scanner began beeping and showed the sincline ship. "They're back," Coran stated.

"What are you waiting for? Open fire!" Romelle snapped.

"No! Princess Allura's with him," Lance protested.

"We're going to let him back on board?" Hunk whimpered.

"Unless you want Allura to die?" Jaz reminded.

"We can't do anything till the Princess is safe," Shiro agreed. "Once Allura is safe we will take Lotor down."

"Guys, over here," Keith said motioning to the sides of the doors, just out of immediate sight.

The other Titan along with the wolf, Romelle and Krolia joined them, each brandishing a weapon, preparing for an ambush. Silyna and Kol flew up, out of sight and Wren turned invisible.

The wait was agonizing, but eventually Allura and Lotor walked in, side-by-side. "What's going on?" Allura questioned seeing her advisor and fellow Paladins standing in a firm line with dark looks on their faces and Jaz and Tarin looked downright murderous.

The sound of weapons being brandished came from behind, and Allura's eyes widened as she saw Keith standing in his Guardian armor, brandishing the same sword he used to help Lotor kill Zarkon.

Lotor meanwhile stood frozen, staring in shock at the Guardians surrounding him. The former-Paladin in particular was a shock, he'd stood toe-to-toe with the man, and never once would he have guessed that…he narrowed his eyes, it couldn't be…

_"Rukaan—He's a Yolosian Mountain Drake—he'll grow that big, maybe bigger—my Wyvern is still being trained—I didn't know there were house-cats in space—Keith! Cayde's waiting for us…"_

Captain Allen Kogane's son, he fought the next Captain of the Rein Fireteam; the only reason he escaped with his life was because the boy had been holding back all this time. Looking at the others, Lotor paled, they all were next-gen Rein, all except the Faen girl. There was Lieutenant Ari's daughter, the Sunsinger's son, the Hunter's son; he was with all four of their children.

And they all were pointing their weapons at him.

"Allura, step away from Lotor," Lance commanded joining the Guardians and aiming his rifle at Lotor.

"I will do no such thing, tell me what is happening here!"

"Lotor is a monster and has been harvesting Altean quintessence for generations!" Romelle exclaimed coming out from behind Krolia.

"An Altean," Allura breathed in shock as Lotor paled.

"YOU LIED TO ME!" Tarin screamed grabbing Lotor's collar. "All this time…all this time I comforted you and stayed close to you, trying to help make sure you didn't feel alone in the universe! I _loved_ you Lotor and you lied to me! You claimed to me you wanted peace! BUT HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT? YOU HAVE THE BLOOD OF THOUSANDS OF INNOCENTS ON YOUR HANDS!"

"Tarin I—"

Romelle interrupted, "You killed my brother and thousands of others!"

"Lotor has been lying to us the whole time," Pidge snarled. "He's a murderer, just like his father!"

"You know nothing about what you speak!"

"Really?" Kol asked pulling the video up on the Castle's monitors.

"Lotor…what is this? Is this true?!" Allura exclaimed whirling on him.

"It's all true Allura," Jaz snarled her fists glowing with light. "He betrayed our people."

"And he's betrayed our trust."

"Allura listen to me, I've dedicated my life to preserving Altean culture. Now that we've unlocked the quintessence field, all of your people who would've been hunted down long ago can live in peace due to my intervention," he implored. "Were some lives lost in the process? Yes. But they were martyrs to a noble cause. I sacrificed a few to preserve the future for millions! Allura, do not let this ruin everything we've worked for! Think of what we experienced in the quintessence field."

"Martyrs?!" Tarin gasped. "You once told me that even one life lost was too many!"

Lotor stepped forwards, taking his wife's hand. "Tarin, please. I'm trying to do what is best for the universe."

"Best for the universe? Or best for yourself?" she growled ripping her hand out.

"Please," he said grabbing her arms. "I want the same things you do. Peace throughout the universe for our races."

She took his hand, and Lotor perked up, failing to notice her eyes harden. "If you wanted that, you wouldn't have turned your back on your morals." Turning around, Tarin flung him over her shoulder, slamming him to the ground hard enough he bounced across the floor and slammed into the wall. "What will you do with him?"

"Take him back for trial, he will be charged with treason to Light and crimes against sentient beings," Sil hissed walking over to cuff him.

The alarm sounded and the image of intruders in the hangar appeared. "The hangar's been breached!"

"It's Lotor's troops!" Hunk exclaimed. "They're stealing the ships!"

"Wren! Sky! Guard the engine room! We don't know if they could be planting bombs," Keith ordered and the two Guardians took off. "Sil, Kol, and I will attempt to stop them in the hangar, the rest of you should—!"

The Black Paladin cried out falling to his knees and holding his head crying out in pain.

"Shiro!"

"What's happening to him?" Coran asked.

"Allura and I will secure Lotor, Hunk help Shiro, everyone else needs to get down to the hangar and stop those guys from taking the ships," Lance said getting nods from the others as they raced out of the room and Tarin teleported out.

Sil spread her wings and began flying before turning invisible as Kol flew beside her. Racing into the hangars, the doors opened just as one of the ships took off and Tarin slammed into a wall as she was blasted back by the other ship.

"Follow them!" Keith ordered as the Warlock and Hunter raced forwards. Jumping in the air, their ghosts materialized their ships around them and they flew out into space.

"Tarin?" Krolia questioned helping her up.

"I'm fine! Stop them!" she snarled.

Hearing the second ship, Keith looked over and saw Lotor's red general activating the one Lotor had arrived in with a dark smirk. Seeing her turn the ship towards them, he threw up a shield as she opened fired, the blasts bouncing off the light barrier before whipping around and blasting off.

"Guys, there's a second ship joining y'all!" Keith warned.

/We see it/ Silyna hissed.

/Sil, you handle the one you're tailing, I'll take the space-legs!/ Kol ordered.

/Got it!/

Shiro raced past them, carrying Lotor on his back as he raced for a pod. **"Shiro's gone mad!"** Allura called over the intercoms. **"He's escaping with Lotor! Stop him before he leaves the ship!"**

Pidge was the first to pull out of her shock, running forwards, she pulled out her bayard and froze.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself fire it at Shiro, he was her family, her brother-in-arms; Katie couldn't hit him. His glowing eyes looked at her for a split second before the pod's hood dropped and it flew off into space, pulling her out of her shock.

/Keith! Is that you giving chase in the white pod?/ Kol asked.

"No, it's Shiro, something's wrong with him," Keith warned.

/We'll try and keep him from leaving the area/

"What do we do?!" Pidge asked turning to Keith.

"We have to stay focused. Lance, Hunk, Allura, think you can still pilot your lions?"

/Yea, I'll manage/ Hunk growled.

/We've got this/ Lance replied firmly.

"Then let's move, Kol and Sil won't be able to hold off Lotor's ships forever, we'll need Voltron."

"We'll hold them off for now," Jaz said as she and Tarin raced back up to the bridge.

"Shiro's gone, who'll pilot the Black Lion?" Pidge questioned as Keith turned away.

"I will," Keith stated before breaking into a sprint, his heavier Titan armor changing into the lighter Paladin.

The lion's eyes glowed as he raced towards it, roaring loudly before letting him enter and swing into the pilot's seat and shooting out of the hangar. He could see the three ships dodging the two Guardian crafts, barely escaping as a pillar of almost white-orange light shot from the orange and violet ship Kol was flying. As the other ship shot a series of shots from its cannons, knocking one of the ships back.

"You guys help Silyna and Kol, I'll get Shiro," Keith ordered flying past the ships towards the white Altean pod.

/Got it!/ Allura responded.

"Shiro! It's Keith!" he called, biting his lip when he didn't get a response. "Shiro, listen to me, it's going to be ok. We just have to find out…" he stopped seeing that Shiro had closed the comm-link between them.

/I can't shake them!/

/Keith!/

"Sil, Kol, I want you to fall back and stay on Shiro! Jaz if you see a chance to use that heavy blast again to Lotor's ships, I want you to open fire," Keith ordered.

/Rodger that/ Silyna said as the two ships pulled away from the battle and shot after the pod as Keith whipped Black around to help his other team.

/Understood/

Red and Yellow ducked out of the way as two blasts came from the Sincline ships, one hitting Hunk, making Lance turn around and fire a blast, only to be hit by the third ship before it flew off as Allura fired at it.

Keith spotted Green about to take a blast, activating Black's blaster, he fired intercepting the shot before it could hit Pidge. "Guys, we're no match for them in our lions, Jaz, how much longer till you're fully charged?"

/Almost there/

"Good, we'll need you to cover us. Now, form Voltron!" Keith ordered as the grouped.

Inside the bridge Jaz and Tarin grinned watching the mighty warrior of legend form. "Awesome," she said before a malicious smirk formed on her face as they saw the three ships forming up for a direct attack. "Right where I need you."

A ball of light formed in her hands as Jaz performed the Awoken magic, watching the attack orbs form using Tarin's magic to bolster her attacks.

"Kiss this bitches," they sneered thrusting their arms forwards and all five orbs shot forwards towards the three Sincline ships.


	47. Deception

Chapter 47

**A/N: I'm back! Good to see y'all again! I just own the story.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is intercom/vid-chat"**

**_Telepathy/dreams/flashbacks_**

"Whoa!" Zethrid exclaimed spotting the energy balls. Pulling up, she cried out as one hit her and slammed her into Ezor as another orb hit them.

Axca flew her ship between the incoming attacks looking at the ship that sent them gritting her teeth. It was likely that the Sorceress and Lotor's bride were responsible for this. A blast slamming the side of her ship knocked her out of her thouts and she glared at the Guardian craft as it zipped by, weaving through her attacks with annoying grace.

Regrouping with the others, they combined blasts, firing it at Voltron. The great warrior raised the shield, using it to block their attack as they sent him flying back towards the asteroids.

/We can't take much more of this!/

In the Castle, Jaz rushed to get her helmet on. "Tarin, can you teleport me outside?!"

The Galra woman grabbed Krolia's helmet, shoving it on her head. "Let's go!" Grabbing Jaz, they teleported on the outside of the Castle.

Collecting energy in her hands, Jaz fired a beam of white-hot energy across the void towards the ships. The attack on Voltron stopped as they dodged out of the way of the bright beam of light. /Thanks guys!/ Keith said as the duo teleported back inside. /Lance, Pidge, give us some cover!/

/On it!/ they said firing their blasters as Voltron flre through the asteroid field, blasting the rocks apart, creating more rubble that the smaller, likely more fragile ships had to weave through.

Yet, somehow, the three ships still managed to tether them. Wrapping around them, the three ships flew in the opposite direction, before releating the cables, throwing Voltron back into a large asteroid.

/What just happened?/

/Is that…/

/A wormhole?!/ Hunk exclaimed as the violet portal opened.

/They're trying to escape!/

/Haggar/ Allura growled. /It has to be Haggar. She must've gained the ability, but how?/

"We can't worry about that now," Keith replied. "We have to make sure we get Shiro back."

/We're pursuing!/ Sil said as she and Kol chased after.

"Understood."

/But Keith, Shiro isn't, well, Shiro anymore/

"I know. But something's wrong with him. And the Galra or Lotor are behind it," he replied. "We all know he'd never give up on us. We can't give up on him." Voltron got up, and activated its thrusters, flying after them. Getting a warning on his dash, Keith growled. "Guys. One of my thrusters is down. Can you compensate?"

/Those beams torched our power core. I've never seen anything like it/

/We've got maybe thirty seconds of over-clocked burn time!/

"Hit it!" Keith ordered.

Voltron blasted off, getting closer to the portal. /We're halfway through our burn!/

Shiro's ship went through.

/Twenty-five percent!/

The first two Sincline ships.

/Fifteen percent!/

The last Sincline ship entered.

/Eight percent!/

Sil's and Kol's ships dove through as the wormhole began to close.

/We're not going to make it!/

/We're too heavy!/

Keith racked his brain for an idea. There had to be a way to get through the wormhole in time. If he could be launched…that's it! "Disband!"

/What?!/

"The energy from disconnecting might create enough thrust to propel me through the wormhole with Kol and Silyna!" he relayed.

/Are you sure?!/

"Do it!"

Voltron disbanded, and Black flew. Gripping his controls, Keith braced himself as Black got closer to the closing wormhole. Almost there…

He shot through, appearing on the other side. Where a fleet of Galra warships sat waiting. /Glad you could join the party/ Kol said as his and Silyna's ships flew up beside him.

/Dude, your ship's sparking/

"I know, one of my thrusters is down," Keith growled. "I'm gonna have to play this smart."

/Got it. We can cover you/ Kol said as his ship changed to something with thicker armor and artillery. The trio dove through the incoming fire, heading towards the group of ships heading towards the flagship at the center.

/One of 'em's breakin' off!/ Silyna warned.

"I've got it, you two get Shiro!" Keith ordered and the two ships sped ahead. Leaving him with the remainder. Flying to the side, he led the craft through the battlefield. Diving under a ship, he flew up continuing to pull back even after hs finished passing as the other ship began to pass below him. Landing Black on top, he fired her blasters, sending it careening off as he began to regroup with his allies.

Keith positioned Black beside the crafts of his friends, and used her claws to rip his way through the hull. Shoving Black's head in, he spotted them, and growled as Ezor slammed the airlock shut. "Darn it!" he growled as he heard blaster fire. Pulling Black away, they took to the air as the ship from before gave chase.

/I see a vent/ Silyna said /I'll get inside and collect as much data as I can!/

/I'll help Keith. Looks like he needs it/

Keith growled, glaring in the general direction of his fireteam. He was doing fine on his own, thank you very much. Now came the challenge, how to get him and Kol inside the ship?

A white pod emerged and Keith's train of thought stopped dead in its tracks. "Shiro?" he whispered. Hitting the thrusters, he sped after him. "Shiro! Shiro come in! I know you're there! I don't know what's wrong, but I know we can fix this. Let me help you!"

/On your six!/ Kol called and Keith ducked in his seat as a blast came from behind him and Kol's ship flew along his left. /Seriously, you need to watch your back!/

"Kol! Go back with Sil and help her out!"

/She can handle herself. They won't know what hit them. You on the other hand, need someone to keep your head in the game/

/We're going into hyperjump. I'll rendezvous with you guys as soon as I can/ she called.

Keith nodded, Kol was right, Silyna could handle herself just fine. She, like him, had trained to fight Hive. The Galra would be a walk in the park for her. She just needed to go in, steal their intel, maybe kill Lotor and Haggar, and get out. Feeling a sense of distress, he ran his thumb along Black. "Just hold on a little longer girl."

-.-

"Ok, the Lions are in their hangars and are recharging," Pidge informed from where she sat at her station.

"Structurally speaking, the Lions are at about sixty-percent," Hunk added. "Whatever those ships hit them with really did some damage."

"Still no word from Keith, Kol, or Silyna regarding the situation on the other side," Sky commented crossing her arms. "Unless you have something Princess?"

Allura opened her eyes and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The wormhole must've despoited them beyond my ability's reach."

"But maybe not mine," Tarin spoke up. "I'm an expert in tracking spells. I might be able to give us an idea of their location."

Allura nodded, pulling up the map. "Do your best."

Tarin nodded, "I'll need something of theirs."

"I have Sil's cloak," Wren said holding one up.

Jaz pulled out the quintessence toy Keith loaned her. "I got this from Keith."

"Perfect," Tarin said taking the items. Setting them out in front of her, she held out her hands and closed her eyes. The markings on her face began to glow, and the objects began to float. Opening her eyes, the objects flew across the room. Stopping by a star before splitting apart in different directions.

"Sil's in the Thizonian system and Keith is in the Ilenix," Tarin estimated. "Your Warlock is likely with either one of them."

"Why would they separate?" Lance questioned.

"Two birds, one stone," Jaz answered. "Keith is after Shiro. Sil, and most likely Kol, are after Haggar and Lotor."

"I'll try to contact some coalition forces to provide assistance," Coran said walking towards the monitor when the power shut down.

"What's happening?" Allura demanded as all the Guardians summoned their ghosts and began interfacing with the system.

"It appears all of the Castle's systems are shutting down one by one!" Coran informed. "It looks as though someone's hacked into the ship's mainframe and set loose a kill protocol of some sort."

"Have you tried an override?" Pidge asked as she began typing.

"Have you tried counteracting with a live protocol?" Hunk offered. "Is that a thing?"

"The virus is moving too fast."

"I'm in the system," Pidge said.

"Same," Sky added.

"Ditto," Wren voiced.

"Do either of you have a way through subroutes eighteen or nineteen? I'm completely locked out!"

"Skipping ahead!"

"Setting up blocks, Gaaf'll try to contain it before it gets any further," Wren replied.

"Sprectral generator down! Stabilizers are down! Main turbine's down! Crystal matrix offline! Particle barrier generator down!"

"There!" they all exclaimed. "We got it isolated. Now we just need to lock it down."

"We should use a multi-layered tri-tetragonal quarantine," Pidge said typing.

"Wiping the program would be more efficient!"

"Sky! That could damage any of the affected systems!"

"What?!" Pidge exclaimed as it began to wreck havoc again. "The virus has countermeasures specifically targeting my quarantine!"

"How?" Jaz questioned as everything powered down.

"It's like…it knew."

"If this shuts down the teludav's mass generator, the ship, along with everything in the neighboring subsystem, would be destroyed," Coran informed grimly.

"Then we have no time to waste!" Wren said following Pidge his ghost flying right behind him as the two guardians followed her.

-.-

Invisibility made missions like these ridiculously easy. Silyna hovered high above the witch, fighting against every instinct she had screaming at her to destroy the dark beast down below. Right now, that wasn't the main objective. Her mission was to steal their intel, find out what Haggar wanted with Lotor, and get out.

The door hissed open and the Hunter watched as the traitor was shoved forwards by the trio of women. "Pince Lotor," Haggar spoke, turning to face him, "my son."

Judging from the generals' reactions, that was a fact they were not aware of. Interesting.

"The anger you feel towards me is to be expected. But understand that the events that transformed me into the witch Haggar also shrouded any glimmer of maternal instinct I may have had for my one and only child."

Silyna raised a brow, "_may have had_" woman, if you're saying that then you got none.

"However," Haggar continued, "you continued the work I started all that time ago and have indeed seen it through to heights I could have only imagined. Your never-ending pursuit of knowledge is truly—"

"Enough!" Lotor snapped.

Thank the Traveler, Sil wasn't sure how much more of that woman's rambling she could have taken before just assassinating her then and there.

"My mother ceased to exist when Honerva drew her last breath. Do not believe for a moment that I would ever except you as kin," Lotor snarled. "You are an abomination! A twisted perversion of what was once so pure and beautiful. The end is near witch. I know you can sense it."

Sil cursed under her breath pulling out several daggers.

"If you beg for your life now, maybe I will take pity on you when the time comes," he spoke and the Guardian frowned. Was he not talking about her presence? Then what…her eyes widened as Axca pushed Lotor aside and fired at Haggar.

What. Just. Happened?

Evidently she was not the only one who was confused because the other two generals seemed lost as well. "Did you just kill her?"

"Are you working with Lotor?!"

The cuffs came off with a clatter. "I can explain everything, but I assure you she's not dead," Lotor said. "If you're with me, we need to get to the Sincline ship and leave now."

"Uh…sure?"

"We're headed for the Castle of Lions' last known location."

"Sir, the wormhole desposited us on the far side of the Thizonian system. We'll need to make multiple hyperspace jumps and even then it will take some time."

Silyna grinned to herself as she retreated. It may take some time for them, but by the time they got there they would be prepared.

-.-

/That it?/ Kol asked as they flew down towards a celestial body.

Keith nodded, looking at the scanners and spotting the pod. "Shiro's here."

Kol turned his ship and it evaporated into storage as the Warlock hovered above the ground. The ground rumbled as Black touched down and Keith jogged down the ramp. "My scanners got footsteaps heading to those caves."

Keith nodded summoning his sparrow. "Let's move." Driving off, the two Guardians followed the tracks through a vast cave system, making quick time due to their vehicles. Leaping over a ridge, they slammed their heels on the groud, quickly stopping in front of doors.

A Galra instillation? Here?

Sharing a glance, they walked inside, waiting in the elevator as it descended. It hissed to a stop, opening the doors and they stared. The facility was massive, built far into the side of the rock with rows upon rows of strange glass tubes that reminded Keith of the Castle's cryopods.

"What is this place?" Kol asked as they walked along glancing at the dark tubes.

"I don't know, I've never seen anything like it," Keith replied walking to the end of the long platform full of pods. Reaching out, his fingertips gently brushed over one, and it burst to life.

They could only stare in horror.

Inside, was a person, and not just any person, Shiro. Keith's brows furrowed. How…how was this possible—there was no way this was possible! That couldn't be Shiro! He didn't have the scar, the hair, he even had both of his arms. It was like he never even went to Kerberos.

Another pod activated, another Shiro. Then there was another, and another, and another, they just kept going.

"It's a cloning facility," Kol realized jamming his knife into one of the pods.

"What're you doing?!"

"Taking one to study," Kol replied. "Something tells me it could come in handy."

"Hello Keith."

They both turned, staring at Shiro, still scarred and one-armed looking at them with glowing, violet eyes.

-.-

"What did you discover?" Tarin said as they all loomed over Pidge as she typed on her laptop.

"Protocol's countermeasure," she said, "I recognized it."

"How?" Jaz said.

"From the code I scanned from Shiro's arm when we were looking for Galra instillations."

"Wait, are you saying Shiro is responsible for this?" Allura gasped.

"Yes."

-.-

"I've got this! You go!" Keith ordered and Kol nodded, hefting the Clone over his shoulder and flying up to the next level. Watching his teammate leave, Keith turned his attention back to his brother. "Shiro, it's gonna be ok."

"Yes. I know."

"We just have to get back to the Castle."

"_We_ are not going ANYWHERE!" he shouted charging forwards.

Keith's eyes widened and he rolled out of the way, letting Shiro's fist slam into the broken pod. He got to his feet, eyes widening as Shiro's glowing fist slammed into his helmet, sending him flying off the edge of the platform. Flipping through the air, Keith activated his jetpack, rightening himself and landing in a crouch. A shadow passed over his form and he leapt aside as Shiro slammed down, his fist making a crater in the metal.

Light rippled over Keith's frame as Paladin armor was replaced with Guardian. "Shiro," he said pulling out his knife and changing it to its sword form, "please. I don't want to hurt you."

Shiro merely grinned as he lunged.

-.-

"The teludav!" Allura exclaimed. "It's reaching critical mass!"

"Pidge, hurry up!"

"I know, I know!" she said typing quickly as the two ghosts worked alongside her. Pressing the last button the glow from behind the door faded away as the teludav stabilized and the Castle began to slowly regain power.

"Uh, Pidge, how'd you do that?" Hunk asked.

Pidge gulped, bowing her head. "When I was scanning Shiro's arm, I made a copy of its programming. I created a virus that could terminate all its command prompts, in case something like this ever happened…I never thought I'd have to use it."

Jaz reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It was good thinking Pidge. You did what you believed you had to do to keep us all safe. That's what matters most."

-.-

Keith grunted as his back slammed into the metal catwalk. Shiro jumped at him, and Keith got up, swinging his blade and meeting Shiro's own plasma blade. Kicking the older man off him, Keith swung at him, frowning as Shiro easily dodged and thrust forwards making Keith duck. Swatting the blade aside, he swung his fist forwards, grimacing as Shiro wrapped his arm around and twisted it out of the path.

A fist uppercut under his jaw, slamming Keith's teeth together as his helmet flew off and fizzeled into light. Ducking under another swing, Keith ran across the catwalk, jumping over another attempt to slice him in half and vaulting over Shiro's head. Activating his jetpack, Keith flew towards the other platform grunting as Shiro jumped onto him.

The wires snapped under Shiro and he slammed into the ground below as Keith grabbed the broken wire swinging down. He was going to win this, and he was going to bring Shiro back, but in order to do that Keith needed to stop restraining himself.

Keith kicked with everything he had as Shiro got up. The impact sent his older brother flying through the metal guardrail and slamming down onto the next catwalk. Leaping off, Keith sprung off a box and spun around, his blade clashing with Shiro and driving him back.

Shiro was backed against the wall, their blades sparking as Keith continued to close in, his eyes glowing Galra yellow with fangs bared as the Titan tried to crush his opponent. The Black Paladin smiled. "That's the Keith I remember."

"Huh?"

Shiro spun their swords in a wide circle, knocking the blade out of Keith's grasp. His knife implanted the metal not far away. Ducking under another slice, Keith sprung towards his blade, ripping it out of the ground in a somersault as he whirled around to face his opponent. Parrying another attack, Keith rolled under another blow, Shiro's blade slicing through the metal beams and knocking the structure down in between them.

"Shiro, I know you're in there!" he called. "You made a promise once. You told me that you'd never give up on me."

"And I should have abandoned you just like your parents did! They saw that you were broken. Worthless. I should have seen it too."

Keith raised a brow, his father left to keep him out of danger and was currently tearing Earth apart looking for him and his mother was at the Castle in case he'd forgotten. So, under mind control or not Keith was going to slap him for that. And he was going to make it hurt.

"I'm not leaving without you."

Shiro chuckled and Yorak began sounding alarm bells in Keith's head. "Actually, neither of us are leaving." The complex shook and red light began to filter in the area as machines began to spark. Shiro's arm began glowing brighter and he cried out, collapsing from his knees from the pain.

"Shiro!" Keith called watching in horror as the metal clawed its way over the armor and up onto his shoulder. What made him sick was the darkness he could feel rolling off his big brother. It was almost as bad as the witch, as if he'd been corrupted in it.

Shiro swung his arm up and Keith leapt to the side as the ground below his feet began to glow. A violet beam of energy ripped out of the ground, going up until it cut through part of the asteroid above, separating it from the rest of the celestial body.

Looking back at Shiro, Keith turned and leapt off the platform down to the one below. Rolling at the bottom, he looked up to see Shiro watching. His arm activated again and began cutting through the platform. Keith started running.

The laser cut through the other side and the platform began to fall. Sliding down the metal, Keith slammed into the bent ramp at the bottom, using it as a vault to leap off. Free falling through the air, Keith grabbed onto the edge of the circular platform, his fingers making divots in the metal as he forced himself up panting for air.

Why…Why was this so hard? He'd faced worse odds, he'd fought worse monsters. So why was Shiro beating him?

Looking to his right, he gaze at his knife. The answer was obvious, he was family, and even though he promised himself…Keith just couldn't go all out. He could kill him.

Hissing as his injuries began to stitch themselves shut, Keith crawled over to his knife, trying to reach out for it as Shiro landed across from him and strode over. He swung down and Keith managed to grab the knife, barely managing to roll over in time to block the blade from cutting his throat open.

"Shiro, please," he grunted. "You're my brother. I love you."

Glowing eyes widened in shock and a spark of hope ran through him. Maybe Shiro was still in there after all? "Just let go Keith," Shiro pleaded. "You don't have to fight anymore. By now, the Team's already gone. I saw to it myself."

Keith's eyes squeezed shut, tears pricking as he thought about them. Lance, his dorky brother. Hunk, the family member who always wanted to see you smile. Pidge, the endearing if messy little sister. Allura, the mother hen of the group. Coran, the uncle who was always happy to spend time with you. Jaz, the protective older sister you could always go to on a bad day. Skylar, his childhood crush and one of his closest friends. Wren, the wild brother who loved playing pranks. Silyna, the sister who loved dragging you out of bed to go count the stars. Kol, who was the responsible older brother. And Krolia…his mother. The mother he grew up longing for his whole life.

No…no…they couldn't be gone!

Pain erupted along his cheek and Keith screamed, pulling out his bayard and slicing Shiro's arm off. Stnading up, he looked at Shiro sadly, pain written across his face. "You don't understand Shiro. I was made to fight. It's who I am."

Grey eyes looked up to meet his own, and Shiro's gaze widened. "Keith…"

The platform shook and begun tilting, looking around franictally, Keith grabbed Shiro's arm and dug his knife into the metal. The metal shrieked as they slid down, coming to a stop mere centimeters from the edge.

Keith was now all that held Shiro to the platform.

There had to be a way out, eyes flickered over the area and Keith bit his lip. He could summon a ship, but if he transmatted inside, then there was a real possibility Shiro would be left to die. He couldn't do that, he couldn't leave his brother, one of the few people to ever look out for him on Earth, to such a cruel fate.

An explosion rocked the platform, and Keith's eyes widened as they began to freefall. Holding onto Shiro, he turned to look at his brother and opened his mouth. Before anything could leave his mouth he stopped.

When was the last time Shiro had seemed this peaceful?

_Keith sat out in the hall ignoring the scalding glare of James Griffin as he sat waiting for Shiro to exit the officer's office. The door opened and James went inside and Shiro came out._

_"Hey."_

_"I know I messed up," Keith said not bothering to look up and meet his eyes. "You should just send me back to the home. This place isn't for me."_

_"Keith. You can do this. I will never give up on you. But more importantly, you can't give up on yourself."_


	48. Betrayal

Chapter 48

**A/N: welcome back for another chapter! Good to see y'all again. Remember, I just own my OCs and that's it.**

**/comm/**

**"Bold is intercoms/vid-chat"**

**D****_reams/telepathy/flashbacks_**

_"Keith."_

_"Keith."_

_Opening his eyes, Keith found himself in what appeared to be the Ascendant Realm, but…it was different. It was brighter. The ground was made of a mirror, reflecting the endless sea of stars shining above. _

_"Shiro? Where are you? Show yourself!" he demanded pulling out his sword._

_"Keith. I know this must be confusing for you…"_

_"What is this place?! Where are we?!" he snarled allowing light energy to crackle over his frame threateningly. "You—You were trying to kill me! The others! You said…" Light began to eminate from behind him and Keith whirled, baring his teeth as Shiro appeared before him._

_But…he was different. He looked like he used to, before he disappeared the second time._

_"I'm not here to harm you. Everyone is fine," he spoke. "Just let me explain. The thing that attacked you wasn't me. Since my fight with Zarkon, I've been here."_

_"When you disappeared?"_

_"Yes. I didn't know where I was or how much time had passed. My physical form was gone. I existed on another realm…I died Keith."_

_Keith's gut sank and his sword clattered out of his hand. No…no…Shiro…he was just with him, he just fought him, he found him. There was no…he couldn't be…_

_"The Black Lion somehow retained my essence."_

_"Is that where we are? The Black Lion's consciousness?" Keith asked._

_"I tried to warn the others of the imposter while on Olkarion, but our connection wasn't strong enough…" Shiro began to fade what he was trying to explain going with him._

_"Shiro? Shiro!"_

Keith's eyes snapped open and he sat up, finding himself on the floor of the Black Lion. "You saved us…thanks," he whispered gently patting the wall, smiling as he felt Black's happy rumble.

"Keith," Yorak spoke up and he turned his gaze landing on Shiro.

"Turn on the emergency pod. We need to put him in."

-.-

"Are you sure you should be down there?" Hunk asked watching the Awoken Warlock and Fae Hunter fly around the main turbine as the Yellow Paladin held a swinging Coran. "It doesn't exactly seem safe."

"Diverting power from the teludav to here should get the power back up and running again," Kol replied pressing some buttons before flying across and starting the next sequence.

"So, what are the odds that giant bolts of electricity will start flying once we get it started?"

"That's what we want to happen Hunk," Coran replied pressing some buttons before swinging to the next area, nearly taking out the Warlock in the process.

"What?"

"Besides, if it is dangerous and we die we'll just revive like we always do," Silyna agreed, her magenta wings fluttering quickly behind her. "But we need to hurry, Lotor and his lackies could be back at any moment."

"We really need to work on our safety procedures."

Coran waved off the Yellow Paladin's concerns before tapping his headset. "How's it going number five?"

/I've diverted as much power as I could from the teladuv to the main turbine as I could/

"Nice work! Looks like we have the power we need to attempt a system restart! Allura begin the reboot sequcence." Getting no response Coran frowned. "Allura? Can you hear me? Is this thing on mute?"

Up on the bridge, the Altean princess was startled out of her thoughts as Lance spoke up, /Allura?/

/Oh, right. What is it you need?/

"The reboot sequence," Kol repeated.

/On it/

Getting the reply, the Warlock and Fae flew up and landed beside Hunk before grabbing the rope assisting in the efforts to hoist the Altean man up onto the platform. "Allura's begun the sequence. Power should be flowing any tick."

"Any tick?" Hunk huffed.

Coran got up and started typing on the monitors before groaning. "Ugh, what? We're in worse shape than I thought. Looks like we've hit another snag. Hold tight!"

"Wren! Sky! Can y'all come down?" Kol called.

/We're on our way/

-.-

"I'll go down and help them out," Krolia said following the two guardians with Romelle trailing behind her, leaving Allura, Lance, Jaz, and Tarin on the bridge.

"Allura? Are you ok? You seem distracted," Lance noticed stepping up beside her.

"I'm just so angry with myself for allowing this to happen. I played right into Lotor's hands and I fear my actions have placed us in this dire situation."

"If anyone's to blame for this it's me," Tarin said from where she sat sulking in one of the chairs. "I knew him the longest, I should've seen him for what he was."

"Neither of you put us in this situation," Lance said. "It was Shiro who went rogue and released the virus on the Castle."

"And I should've noticed that too," Tarin growled, her ears flattening to her head as she slammed her fist on the armrest. "I was Haggar's apprentice for decapheobs, I should've seen the signs!"

"No, this is my fault," Allura said crossing her arms and looking down. "I helped power his ships, granting him unlimited access to the quintessence field. I was fooled by him and it put the entire universe in jeopardy."

"We were all fooled by him Allura," Jaz spoke up.

"She's right," Lance agreed hugging Allura whom gladly returned the gesture of affection. "I had more reason than anyone not to trust him, but he did everything right. Let me tell you, as someone who's made a million mistakes all you can do is get up and try to make it right. You can't doubt yourself now. We need you. The universe needs you."

"And no matter what, we've got you back," Jaz smirked.

"Thank you."

**"Hailing Castle of Lions,"** Keith said opening a comm-channel.

"Keith! What happened?" Jaz exclaimed noticing a burn running along his cheek. "Where's Shiro?"

**"I got him, but it's not the Shiro we know."**

"A clone, right?" Tarin questioned standing up getting a nod in confirmation.

"Then where's the real one?" Lance asked.

**"It's complicated,"** Keith's ghost, Yorak, chimed in. **"We'll explain later, right now we need to focus on Lotor."**

"Silyna and Kol got back not too long ago. They told us they were on their way," Allura informed. "He needs to get here in order to breach the quintessence field."

**"I'm on my way back now. But without a hyperdrive or wormhole it's going to take some time. You'll have to hold off Lotor without me."**

"Don't worry, we won't let them go out alone," Tarin snarled cracking her knuckles and making a show of letting lightning flash along her arms.

-.-

"Accessing the quintessence field has been Lotor's singular drive for over a millenia," Tarin said as everyone got into their lions. "He wants to harness the power for himself."

/But we won't let him/ Allura agreed. /Thankfully, there's only one way into the quintessence field; through the inter-reality gate. So we must destroy it/

"I could just use on of my blasts to blow it up," Jaz offered putting on her helmet

"Save you energy, we'll need it for the battle ahead," Skylar said reloading a Cold Heart.

"For right now, we'll work on powering up the Castle," Coran agreed tugging on his mustache, "we'll need all the help we can get in the coming battle against…" his gaze fell to the Galra Druid and he took a breath, "against Lotor."

The lions flew out of their hangars, the beams of light from their guns blasting through the massive crater in the dead planet and out the other side, destroying the gate. And hopefully, Lotor's means of reaching the quintessence field.

-.-

/Lotor's going to be here any second. What's the plan?/ Pidge asked as the Lions regrouped.

/The Castle of Lions is broken down so there's no help there. The Black Lion isn't with us, so we can't form Voltron. So we'll just have to do what we can/ Allura answered.

/Coran, Krolia, Romelle, Wren, and Kol are working to restart your ship/ Skylar spoke. /Silyna and I will provide assistance where it's needed/

/And Jaz and I can provide extra fire coverage if necessary/ Tarin reminded.

/The last time we fought Lotor we had five ships/ Hunk chuckled, /at least our odds are better this time/

Allura blinked looking down at her scanner before speaking up again, /Tarin? Are you sure about this? You and Lotor—/

/It doesn't matter! Anything I felt for my hus…for him, was rendered null the moment he betrayed his morals/ she replied curtly pinning her ears back. /And as Empress to the Galra Empire, it's my duty to protect my people. Even if it's from their own Emperor. I cannot let them suffer the mistakes of another madman/

/Voltron, our scanners are picking up three targets of enemy origin/ Skylar spoke up. /Recommended attack plan?/

/Hold your positions. Let him make the first move/ Lance answered.

/Very well, we shall initiate cloaking, ambush them when the time is right/ Silyna nodded.

/I like them/ Pidge smirked feeling a little more confident about their odds.

The three ships came to a stop across from Voltron. /We need not fight today. We are all on the same side/ Lotor spoke in an attempt to diffuse the situation. /I know what you all must now think of me now that you know my past. But it doesn't have to change our future together. The truth is, I want to harness the power of the quintessence field to better the universe, just like I said. Nothing has changed/

/Explain your actions Lotor!/ Tarin snapped. /You went behind the backs of everyone who trusted you! You enslaved the very race you sought to save and turned around and took members to drain their life force! How many innocent lives did you destroy?!/

/Tarin I—/

/HOW MANY?!/ Allura screeched. No, she wasn't going to let him avoid the question. Not after everything he's done to them, to all of them. The Paladins, her friends, her people. No more were going to fall for his lies.

/…It's true. Many Alteans perished in my quest to unlock the mysteries of quintessence. But I rescued thousands, preserved their culture, our culture Allura. You must understand that I've given everything I have to plumb the depths of King Alfor's knowledge, to unlock the mysteries of Oriande. Please Allura, we've come too far together. Surely you can see the greatness we've already accomplished. There's still more to come. Join me. We're on the same side/

/NO WE'RE NOT!/ The Blue Lion opened its jaws, allowing a laser to fly towards the three ships.

/YEAH! GO ALLURA!/ Silyna cheered.

Diving out of the way, a violet orb began to form between them. /HOLD YOUR FIRE! HOLD YOUR FIRE!/ Lotor ordered frantically. /Allura, stop! You, Jazmyne and I hold the ancient knowledge of our Altean culture. We're meant to be together. My feelings for you are true. And I know you have feelings for me as well/

/Then what were your feelings for me?/ Tarin spoke up, her ears drooping. /Was it all a lie?/

/No! Tarin! I—/

/Enough!/ Allura interrupted. /You betrayed and used me, you used all of us!/

/What about your father?/ Lotor spoke coldly. /He may've been a master engineer but Alfor was too weak to defend his homeworld. I'm the one who had to step up and save our entire race. Who are you to question my tactics of bringing peace and prosperity to the universe?/

/OH THAT'S BULLSHIT! I HAPPEN TO KNOW, FOR A FACT, MANY, MANY, MANY ALTEANS SURVIVED IN MY SYSTEM, _WITHOUT YOU_ LOTURD! I'M HALF-ALTEAN BITCH!/ Skylar screamed popping up momnentarily on the video feed to flip the bird. /AND GUESS WHAT?! WE DIDN'T INTENTIONALLY MURDER THEM! SECOND OF ALL! PEACE AND PROSPERITY?! DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH! I GIVE YOU FIVE SECONDS AGAINST THE HIVE TOPS!/

/Damn Sky, chill/

/Lotor/ Tarin spoke, her voice surprisingly even, /You think we can trust you so easily again? After you lied to us?!/

/Tarin…/

/That's all it was, wasn't it? A lie?/ she snarled through tears. /You just made your feelings about me clear. You used me. I gave you everything I had and you just used me for your own gain. You're more like Zarkon than I could've ever imagined/

/…Destroy the lions/

The two Sincline ships on either side of Lotor's shot forwards, firing blasts as they flew towards Voltron.

The Blue Lion roared, flying towards Lotor's ships, weaving between the incoming fire. /Allura! Stay with the group!/ Lance called as they chased after her. The two ships split, chasing after Green and Red as Blue continued her pursuit. Charging at Lotor, his ship moved to the side, allowing the lion to soar past him. Allura turned her lion around, firing the cannon. Lotor shot forwards, skimming over the surface of his old homeworld, the laser ripping through the dead ground behind him.

Red and Green fired shots at the two ships chasing them and Yellow. The larger lion got blasted again, and Hunk grunted as he was knocked about in his seat. /Guys! We could really use some help here!/

/Finally!/ Silyna cheered. A blast came from nowhere, slamming one of the incoming Sincline ships aside. Turning to find the source, the Yellow Paladin sighed in relief as he watched one of the Guardian ships decloak and zip past.

/Thanks!/

/Behind you!/ Lance exclaimed and Hunk grunted as he was blasted again.

Meanwhile, Lotor pulled his ship up, maneuvering it behind the Blue Lion. /Once I defeat Voltron! I'm going to create a new Altea! An Altea that will never know Princess Allura or King Alfor!/ he growled as his target system locked onto the Blue Lion. /Nor will they ever know of the Lions of Voltron! All they'll know is me! Their great leader!/ He fired at the Blue Lion, laughing as she continued to run from him.

/SURPRISE!/

Lotor's head slammed against the dashboard as something rammed his ship. Looking up, his eyes widened as he saw a tank-like ship, shoving his own towards some of the ruins of Diabazaal. Inside, he could see an Altean Titain inside smirking. The same one who yelled at him earlier.

Gunning the engines, he shot forwards, narrowly avoiding a blast from the Blue Lion as he made his escape. He looped around an asteroid, coming around on Allura's tail once again. /I'M GOING TO WIPE THE UNIVERSE CLEAN FROM ALL MY ENEMIES! VOLTRON, HAGGAR, AND THE REST OF THE GALRA!/

At those words, the two sincline ships fighting the others, pulled away from the battle. Inside his ship, Lotor seethed with rage. His generals, even they were abandoning him. Was no one on his side?! He turned away from Allura and shot after them. Getting in range, he overrided their controls, ejecting the traitors from what was his.

And then, the transformation sequence begun. The three ships combined to form his all powerful weapon. The weapon that would destroy Voltron once and for all.

/What is that thing?/ Pidge exclaimed.

/He's created his own Voltron/ Lance answered.

/That's why he was using me, using us/ Allura growled, her hands clenching tighter around the controls. /We helped him build it/

/Well, at least now it's six—no, eight on one/ Hunk sighed.

/LOOK OUT!/

The Sincline mech lunged forwards, appearing beside them in a blink of an eye. The massive tail on the back slammed the Blue Lion aside, nearly sending her crashing into an asteroid. As the others tried to put some distance between them and Lotor, Hunk cried out as Yellow was grabbed by her tail. The G-forces as he was swung around pressed him against his chair. And, suddenly, his lion was sent soaring right towards Silyna's ship.

The Hunter's ship zipped out of the way, flying around the battlefield as Sincline attacked the Green Lion. /Kol, Wren, get out here. This thing's gonna be a challenge/

/On our way!/

/Jaz? Krolia, what's the status of the Castle?/

/We finally have control of the weapons systems/ Coran replied.

/We don't have much power. Only enough for one shot/ Krolia informed.

/We'll have to make it count then. FIRE!/

The cannons on the Caslte powered to life and a blarge blast came from the ship's bow. As the Lions and Guardians pulled back, Lotor turned towards the disturbance, the blast slamming full-force into his ship.

/Nice shot Coran!/

Inside the Castle, Tarin's ears flattened as she saw a familiar glow coming from behind the glow of the blue light. "Jaz! Shield!"

The Awoken mage's eyes widened, and both sorcerers unleased their magic, forming a shield over the Castle. In that moment, a violet laser from the Sincline mech cut off the Castle's attack, ramming into the shield.

Both mages grimaced as they felt the dark energy attack their own. "Coran, do we have more for another attack?"

"No, I'm afraid that was our last shot."

/Pidge! Get out of his line of sight!/ Lance shouted as Lotor ceased his attack, turning towards the lions.

/He's locked onto me! I'm taking heavy fire/ she called back grunting as several blasts slammed into her lion, blasting them into an asteroid.

Seeing their chance, Tarin and Jaz formed their attacks. Two bright beams of light shot out from the Castle. The first one slammed into the Sincline ship, pushing it away from Pidge and into another asteroid.

Inside his ship, Lotor grimaced at the sheer heat. He could see his systems flashing in warning, see the metal of his weapon glowing and almost melting. The white light faded away, and the Galtean blinked in an effort to adjust his eyes before the second blast hit.

Lotor screamed. Lightning arched through his body, trying to fry every nerve. He knew who's attack this was, he could feel it. The rage, the hate, the utter betrayal; this was Tarin. A glowing flash of her came to his mind and pain exploded on the right side of his face.

Gasping, he could feel the rivulets of blood flowing down his face. In the glass, he could see the reflection of four gashes on his head stretching from his brows to almost his lips.

A thud jostled his ship and the Emperor's eyes widened as he saw the Titan standing on his chest. Activating his cannon, he fired, hopefully eradicating the beast from existence. Flying away from it, he glimpsed a flash of light and a ship giving chase.

Two smaller ships zipped by him, and Lotor grunted as several explosions knocked his ship back. Reeling from the attack, he barely pulled out of the way of several more large blasts coming from the Warlock and mages in the Castle.

A fist made impact on the visor and his eyes widened as he saw the same Titan again on his ship. Through her helmet, he could see her face, and for the first time in decapheobs, Lotor felt true fear shiver down his spine.

The only thing he could make out through her mask were those glowing eyes, and he felt his ship jolt as he fist made impact, cracks spreading across the armor.

Guardians, he was fighting Guardians. Immortals born for combat. He swung the mech's arm, attempting to fling her off. It worked, but she teleported back into her ship just as his alarms began going off again.

Turning to face the next attack, his eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of black, white, and blue. The blurr rammed into him, and he grunted as another wave of electricity shot through him from the damaged systems.

The Black Lion was here.

/Keith! How'd you get here so fast?!/ Lance exclaimed.

/I had some help/ he replied.

/What's the plan Cap?/ Skylar smirked.

/You guys distract him while we form Voltron!/


	49. Conflict and Resolution

Chapter 49

**A/N: hey y'all, was last chapter a doozy or what? I'll try to get the battle in this chapter to flow a little better than in the last. I think it was mostly cause I wasn't really sticking to one character and I kept hopping around. But hey, battlefield's chaos anyways so…who knows?**

**Anyways, I just own my OCs, that's it, nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**"Bold is videochat"**

"Coran, you've got incoming," Keith said as he launched Shiro's pod towards the Castle.

Now that his brother was out of harm's way, the Paladin Guardian turned his attention to the battle.

Lotor fired first, a laser coming right towards them, backing Voltron up, Katie summoned the shield, using it to parry the incoming attack. The blast did push them back, but it gave his Fireteam an opportunity. The four ships split from Voltron's side, flying towards Sincline. The two hunter ships swooped over the beam, releasing large clouds of gas, obscuring Lotor's view of Voltron.

Seeing their chance, Keith pulled Voltron out of the attack, letting the beam fly off into the unknown. "Hunk! Form cannon!" he ordered.

They could see the light of an explosion from behind the gas, and the Sincline ship was tossed out of the smoke. Hunk fired the cannon just as Lotor turned.

He dodged the attack, flying away from the large blast as it tore through numerous asteroids and he set off proximity bombs left by the Guardians at somepoint during the battle.

/He's too fast!/ Lance exclaimed.

Keith glowered at that, "Then we'll have to get in closer," he grabbed his bayard, "form sword!" Slamming his bayard into the port, the blade came to life in Voltron's hands. Across from them, Sincline pulled two swords out. It shot towards them, and Voltron parried as their blades collided, Lotor pushing them back.

/Now we will see how Alfor's legacy stands against the new Altean defender!/ Lotor cackled. Pulling one of his swords, back, he made the move to strike, forcing Voltron to quickly parry before Sincline kicked them away.

Regaining their balance, Keith's eyes widened as he saw the enemy shooting towards them. "MOVE!"

Voltron ducked under the long, violet sword, letting it slash through a rather unfortunate meteor. Turning around, Voltron parried again as the Sincline continued its assault, before spinning around and using its tail to slam them aside.

"Can anyone get a clear line of fire?!" Keith demanded.

/No!/ they all answered.

/Shield!/ Lance exclaimed, and Keith braced himself as Lotor flew at them.

Pridge raised the shield, blocking his attack.

Keith grunted, they were playing too much on defensive. If they were going to win this battle, it had to be on offensive. "ATTACK!"

Acknowledging his ordered, Green used the shield to shove Sincline away before letting the defesne fall back. Pidge fired her cannon, hitting Lotor and giving them time to attack. Voltron closed in on its target, sword clashing against the blades of its enemy.

Firing another blast, Lotor shot away before looping back around and trying to attack again. Parrying the blade, Voltron ducked under a swung from the other, making their own swing in an attempt to wound their opponent.

Seeing his chance, Lotor spun his ship around, and used the tail. The extra appendage slammed into Voltron's neck, knocking Keith around in the cockpit a little as they were pushed back.

/He's too fast!/

/We need to back him into a corner or something!/

Keith nodded, "Hunk's right. We have to eliminate his speed advantage, limit his movements…" He turned Voltron, looking for a suitable positions and smirking when he saw the target, "There! Guys, set up proximity bombs! Trap Lotor in!"

/Sounds like a plan!/ Wren laughed as the four ships shot over towards the asteroid.

Voltron turned to look at Sincline. "Now, we lure him close," Keith smirked. Gunning the engines, they shot off in the same direction, forcing their enemy to chase after them. Diving into the crater, Pidge raised the shield as another laser attacked them, and blocked the attack completely.

Getting frustraited, Lotor began to zip around them, trying to strike from the side. Only to be blocked by the protective spires of rock surrounding them.

/He's going around the back/ Kol informed as soon as Lotor left their line of sight.

/Bombs are set/

Keith nodded, "Wait for it, let him build up speed…now!"

Diving out of the way, they turned as a violet blade protruded from the rock. At that moment, the bombd went off, jostling Lotor's ship and shoving it through. Seeing their chance, Hunk fired his cannon. The beam made impact, knocking their opponent back into the very meteor he just came through. Damaged rock began to give way and a large fissure broke through as the asteroid split in two, allowing Voltron to send Lotor flying through it with their attack.

/Where'd he go?!/

/He's behind us!/ Pidge exclaimed.

"Hunk! Hit him with the shoulder cannon!"

/I've got your back!/ Kol agreed.

Both Paladin and Warlock fired at the same time from different angles. They intersected, creating a flash of light, and when it faded, they couldn't see Lotor.

/Did we get him?/

/I don't know!/

/I think we got him!/

/It's like he just disappeared!/

Keith closed his eyes, rubbing his chest as he felt a warning pulse through him. Yorak must've sensed something. "No, this isn't over."

Suddenly, Lotor was slamming into them from their right. Voltron crashed into a meteor, and they looked up, eyes widening as they saw the Sincline ship glowing.

"He did it," Tarin growled as she and Jaz watched in horror. "He figured out how to travel to the quintessence field at will."

"Any idea on how to stop him?" Jaz asked.

Tarin grimaced, biting her thumb. She knew more about magic than almost all the druids in the empire, she'd even taken the time to carefully study the magic of hundreds of systems while her old mentor had merely rushed through them. There had to be… "The book," she realized, "the book from the gallery at Galra Command. I brought it cause I wanted to know why my seller was so interested…there might be a spell that can work."

"Lead the way," Jaz nodded racing after the druid.

/How is he moving so fast?!/ Pidge groaned.

"We've gotta get up and attack," Keith reminded. Shoving the controls forward, Voltron flew at Lotor and Red threw a punch.

Only for Lotor to disappear right before their eyes.

/Ok, we definitely didn't get him that time/ Lance winced.

And suddenly, Lotor was hitting them left and right. He'd be in one place, then be in the next; delivering his next blow before vanishing and repeating the process, giving the Paladins no time to discern his location.

/How is he doing this?!/ Wren exclaimed.

/I don't know! He's not using Ascendant portals/ Kol growled.

/Well he's definitely travelling between realities!/ Silyna growled.

Allura's eyes widened as she connected the dots, /He's entering the quintessence field at will!/

/Didn't we blow up the gate? How is he entering without it?!/

/…Because I gave his ships the ability/ Allura confessed.

They all grunted as the Sincline mech slammed into them again, nearly sending them crashing into on of the Guardians' ships. /ULTIMATE POWER IS MINE! ALL REALITIES WILL FALL TO THE NEW ALTEAN EMPIRE!/ he cheered. Firing another blast, Voltron raised it shield, before he disappeared back into the field.

Keith grunted, gripping his controls, "We have to go in after him. Getting power from the quintessence field is the only way we can match his strength."

/Can we do that?!/

/If he can do it! So can we!/

/My father did it once before/ Allura spoke up, /but it's extremely dangerous/

/Do we have a choice?/ Lance scoffed.

/Bring us!/ Tarin interrupted. /Jaz and I have been looking at some spells, we may have something/

/What do you mean?/ Allura asked.

/We think we found something, something that may stop Lotor/ Jaz answered. /Just one problem: it's a Hive spell. We don't have the power to pull it off/

/But in the quintessence field you do/ Skylar realized. /Cap?/

Keith grit his teeth. He did not like this, not at all. The Hive were dangerous, their spells even more so. But…if Jaz believed it could work… "Get out here, fast!"

A wave of darkness rushed from behind him and he whipped around as Tarin and Jaz materialized out of black smoke, "Already here."

"Are you sure this will work?" he asked.

Jaz nodded, "It's a powerful spell. Not even Lotor will be able to break it on his own."

/…All right/ Allura reluctantly agreed, /I may be able to guide us in, but I'll need you all to focus your energy/ Nodding, they all began closing their eyes, focusing their energy. Through the darkness, they could see a blinding light appear. /Form sword/

Green and Red clashed together. Pulling apart, a flaming sword formed in Red's grasp. Voltron shot forwards, flying towards the light raising its blade. Thrusting the sword forwards, it cut through the fabric of reality, tearing into the quintessence field and forcing its was inside.

Keith gasped as he opened his eyes, he could feel energy arching over his body. Looking at himself, the Titan could make out glowing veins beneath his skin. Glancing at Tarin and Jaz, he saw them glowing too. Jaz's stardust markings and eyes were brighter than he'd ever seen, and Tarin's eyes and tattoos were glowing bright as they stared across the see of light at their enemy, Lotor.

"We need to get close," Tarin hissed.

Lotor lunged forwards, swinging his blade towards Voltron. And thus, the battle once again begun. Voltron and Sincline clashed violently. Their blades clashed against one another, sending shockwaves through the field of energy. Leveling his sword, Lance fired a blast, blasting Lotor back.

/See if you can dodge this!/ Katie exclaimed. Thrusting her controls forwards, Green's head shot off and zoomed around Lotor, firing several shots before retreating as the sword began to glow again. It fored another shot, blasting their enemy back, allowing them to see lightning arching over him. /LET'S FINISH THIS!/

/LET'S DESTROY THIS GUY!/ Hunk screamed.

Allura's eyes widned in alarm. /Jaz! Tarin! Do the spell! Now! We have to get out fo here!/

"What are you talking about?" Keith asked.

/This is exactly what happened to Zarkon. Exposure to all this quintessence turned him into a monster!/

"We're not in range!" Jaz said.

"We have no choice!" Tarin replied kneeling down and quickly etching the symbols from the book onto the floor of Black's cockpit.

/POOR ALLURA! ALL THE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS AND YOU STILL FEAR USING IT!/ Lotoer chared forwards, forcing Voltron to parry the attack.

/He's in range! Do it!/ Hunk exclaimed.

Jaz and Tarin stood across from each other, grimacing as they were jostled again. Sharing a nod, the two mages began the spell. **_"Asdi dtx Wuyesxzz, asdi dtx kazd, gio ztuqq wabx txuwpayzd. Rxdyuguq nuz ntud gio zioftd di ryasf, rod sin gio naqq qxuys. Gio'qq irxg dtx Duexs Easf. Usw as dtaz wakxszais gio naqq roys!"_**

In the field of light, all the Paladins shivered as they felt a wave of darkness wash over them, sending chills down to their very core. Around them, they could see the dark clouds in the field moving, almost writhing. The dark shadows came together, and they could almost see the form of what looked like a giant snake.

When it full materialized, they sat looking at a monster larger than Voltron, completely made of darkness and shimmered like stars.

Without warning, the beast lunged for Lotor. He dove around the beast trying to escape, but it seemed like it had no intentions of stopping.

/We need to go!/ Pidge exclaimed.

/We can't just leave him!/ Allura protested.

/We have no choice!/ Tarin exclaimed. /Pull us out now!/

Reluctantly, Allura opened the rift, allowing Voltron to appear on the other side. /If we stayed in the quintessence field, we would fought till we destroyed ourselves, just like Lotor/

/What was that spell you used?/ Hunk inquired. /That thing you summoned was scary/

/Fortunately, it wasn't the real deal/ Jaz sighed. /But, make no mistake, that thing is _very_ dangerous/

/Thank the Traveller! You're back!/ Kol exclaimed. /We have a problem/

/All of Lotor's jumping in and out of the quintessence field has created multiple growing rifts in the fabric of time and space/ Coran explained.

/What does that mean?/

/It means unless we do something fast, thise tears will continue to expand until all of existence as we know has been destroyed/

"There has to be something we can do," Keith growled. Tossing a look over his shoulder, he felt his stomach drop as he saw Jaz and Tarin leaning against the wall looking drained and uncertain. Even if they had the strength, he doubted they had an idea on how to stop this right now.

/Scanning the rifts for any strand refabrication possibilities/

/I'm running a few models now to see if there's any chance it could close on its own/ Hunk chimed in.

/Not that my models have shown me so far/ Kol responded. /We're going to have to find an alternative way. Pidge, do you have anything?/

/Nothing/

"How long do we have?"

/Based on the expansion rate current models project 15 minutes/

/Allura, Tarin, Jaz, one of you has to have a way to close it. Voltron opened it up, maybe we can…I dunno, find a way to close it?!/

"Not that I'm aware of," Tarin sighed.

"I wasn't trained for something like this," Jaz grimaced. "Even with all my knowledge of interreality magic, I don't know how to stop it from tearing itself apart. That's never happened before."

/I'm sorry, I just don't possess that level of alchemic knowledge/ Allura apologized.

/The only way I'm finding that could possibly pull the rift closed would be a mass of gravity stranger than that of a supermassive black hole/ Pidge informed.

/Any chance we can find one and get it over here in 15 minutes?/

/Even if we could move a black hole, we wouldn't get it here in time/ Kol responded.

/Wait a minute! The teludav!/

"What about it?"

/To make wormhole jumps, the teludave creates a brief flash of infinite mass. There might be a way to overload the teludav reactor and seal the rift. If one of the flashes went off on the rift it could do the job/

/But…but that would mean sacrificing the Castle of Lions/ Hunk realized.

/What choice do we have? The Castle will be wiped out with the rest of us/ Pidge pointed out.

/But still, it's been our home/

"Look, saying goodbye to your home isn't easy," Keith spoke up, "trust me. But we don't have any other choice right now."

/Coran, begin preparations/ Allura agreed. /Everyone else, start unloading the Castle. We need to evacuate immediately/

-.-

Coran worked with Pidge and Kol, setting up the preparations needed to repair the teludav.

Meanwhile, Wren and Krolia pulled Shiro and the Shiro clone Kol retrieved onto Sky's ship as the Titan grabbed supplies.

Going to her room, Pidge grabbed Silyna and they began packing. Grabbing what they thought was necessary. Sil hlped the smaller girl pull down some of her decorations and posters, shoving them into a bag as Pidge picked up her things. Nodding to each other, the two ran out of the room to drop the stuff off in the Green Lion with three little puffballs flying behind them.

In her room, Allura put the mice on her shoulder as she rushed over to her dresser, picking up a hologram of her mother and father before rushing out the door.

At Red, Lance and Wren worked together trying to pull Kaltinecker onto the lion. As Hunk began helping Skylar gather supplies to put in the lions and ships.

As the alarms began going off, they departed the Castle of Lions, watching as it flew into the rift and exploded.

-.-

/IT WORKED!/ Hunk cheered.

/You did it Coran/

/Look/ Hunk flew forwards approaching the glowing blue object. /It…it's a diamond. The pressure crushed the Castle of Lions into this little diamond/ Opening her jaws, Yellow ate the small gem, flying back to her pride.

/Well, we saved all realities everywhere/ Lance sighed. /What do you guys wanna do now?/

/We need to find someplace to land/ Keith answered. /See if there's someway we can help Shiro/

-.-

"Why do we have two Shiro's?" Hunk asked as Keith and Kol set the clones down.

"They're clones," Kol responded. "The body I pulled is less stable, and the consciousness in the other body is currently dying. I recommend we move it, see if that may stabilie it."

"Shiro's spirit is alive," Keith retorted, "it's inside the Black Lion. I've spoken to him."

"He…he tried to tell me," Lance whispered tears streaming down his face, "but I didn't realize."

"That's not your fault Lance," Jaz reassured. "None of us knew."

"So are we going to have to choose who lives and who dies?" Hunk asked.

"We could transfer the clone consciousness into the less stable body as I originally said and put Shiro in the more stable one," Kol proposed.

"That seems overly complicated," Pidge pointed out.

"May be, but the clone is already used to transference such as this," Tarin spoke up. "Haggar would've had to download Shiro's memories, his personality, to make the clone believable. Shiro…he'd be less likely to survive in a brand-new clone body fresh from a pod. A body that is already close to his original would be best." Kneeling down between the two clones, Tarin rested her fingers on their foreheads. Taking a breath, they could see her fingers start to glow as she began to transfer the quintessence of the clone's consciousness.

Realizing what she was doing, Allura got up and strode towards the Black Lion. Placing her hands on the hull, she reached out with her own quintessence. Black's own power was immense, but through the wild abyss, she could feel a familiar presence. It washed over her, and she felt the tense muscles in her shoulders relax it really was Shiro. She knelt at the head of the injured clone, and placed her hands on his head. Letting the consciousness transfer back into the body.

And Shiro gasped at the same time as his clone.


	50. Recovery

Chapter 50

**A/N: hey y'all. Good to see y'all again. Anyways, yes, I decided to leave Shiro's clone alive cause well…I felt bad for the guy. He was being controlled by Haggar and didn't even know what was happening to him. I thought he deserves a second chance.**

**So anyways, remember, if just own the story and my OCs, nothing else is mine.**

**/comms/**

**"Bold is videochat"**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_**

**Now that's outta the way! Onto the story**!

"_I've gotta special guest along with me today, I'm sure you all recognize him. He's the youngest pilot to ever lead a mission into space: Takashi Shirogane!"_

_The Garrison officer smiled as the class applauded, "Thanks for having me."_

_Around him, Keith could hear his classmates whispering as he looked out the window. They all seemed so excited, so what? It was space. Wasn't like he'd seen it a thousand times already._

"What'cha think of this guy?" _Yorak inquired._

_Keith shrugged. He didn't particularly care. He was probably just another Garrison official who went back on their promises and dumped their problems. Keith had been flying probably since before this guy was in a training simulator, and this guy was acting like he was a hot shot._

_"Shiro just broke the record for the fastest orbital velocity," his teacher continued, "beating the old heliocentric speed by about fifty kilometers per second!"_

_The class applauded again and the young Titan refrained from rolling his eyes. He knew better than to make himself stand out on Earth. Right now, all he needed to do was wait till he stopped aging, and then he'd be all set to go back home, away from this place. The boy sighed, looking up at the sky. He used to love coming to Earth, back when he was with his father. But that was before he learned how cruel its people could be._

_"The Galaxy Garrison has sent me to schools in the area to find the next generation of astroexplorers," Shirogane spoke. "Who's ready to find out if they've got what it takes?"_

_All of Keith's classmates' hands shot up, all of them clamoring for their chance._

_"All right, all right," he heard the officer chuckle. "Well, in order do that, we're going to give you a test."_

_"Aw."_

_"A test?"_

_"Really?"_

_"By playing, a video game," the man finished._

_Getting up excitedly, the class went outside and Keith sat down away from the others letting everyone else go have their fun as the Garrison official explained the purpose of the cube attached to his car. Looking away from the presentation, he looked out towards the desert, in the direction of the house he and his father had out there. He wished he could go and just live out there, away from all this. At least there he'd be happier._

_But he wasn't about to reveal his only haven from his current foster family to his useless social worker._

_Hearing something hiss open, violet eyes glanced back to see the cube open up and students scramble to get inside. He could hear the game playing, and he could hear Griffin cheering everyone on as they all took their turns. Even though it wasn't long before he heard the crash._

"Maybe you should try it Keith, might be fun?"

_"Not compared to the real thing," he murmured. "Maybe we can sneak out later and go for a ride on the sparrow."_

"You sure?" _Yorak questioned,_ "They don't like you sneaking out."

_"They don't care about me Yorak," he growled. "As long as they get their paychecks they don't care what I do." His ghost remained silent, indicating Keith had a point._

_"We've had some great tried but no one's made it past the third level," the officer praised. "Looks like you're the only one who's left." Feeling eyes on him, Keith turned to see the man giving him a smile. "Think you got what it takes?"_

_Reluctantly getting to his feet, he went into the simulator and started it. Overall, it was fairly easy, even as he felt his classmates gather around him. It almost brought a smile to his face as he remembered flying in the Tangled Shore and through the migrating ampithere._

_"NO WAY! Keith made it past level five?! Thing's gotta be broken," James exclaimed tossing him a glare._

_Keith refrained from electrocuting him as the next level started. Filtering out the excess noise, he could hear his teacher talking in the back. "I've compiled a list of students I think would make the best candidates for the Garrison."_

_"Is this guy on there? Looks like he's just about ready to fly the real thing."_

_"Keith?" the woman scoffed. "He's a bit of a discipline case. I don't think he'd necessarily fit in with the rigid Garrison culture."_

_Keith clenched the control tighter. Who were these people to say what he could and couldn't do? They didn't know him, they didn't know his past. The people of Earth were cruel. All they saw was what fit their standards and tossed anything that didn't fit the norms aside like garbage. Like how every foster home on this planet did. Like how all his teachers praised bullies and belitted those who fought back and defended themselves. He never started the fights, yet he was always labeled the troublemaker._

_How his father came from this world was beyond him._

_"This is James Griffin. He has the highest grades in school."_

_"That's it!" he hissed. Releasing the controls he leapt out of the chair and shoved past his classmates. Quickly unhitching the trailer he swung in the driver's seat and took off before they even knew what was happening. He would've rather used his sparrow, but hey, no sense in not getting some payback against someone who was going to toss him aside as usual._

-.-

_"I don't get it," Keith said crossing his arms as Shirogane stopped as they walked out of juvie. "I steal your car and you respond by bailing me out?"_

_"Yeah," Shiro said getting in his car, "so you owe me one."_

_Keith's eyes flashed dangerously and a few small sparks traveled over him. He did not like what that meant. "What do you mean?"_

_Almost confused, Shiro raised a brow pulling out a card. "Be at this address tomorrow at 0800 hours."_

_Keith snatched the card from his hand, looking at it warily. He blinked in confusion when he saw the address to the Garrison hangars._

_"You're getting a second chance," the man smiled as the windows slid up. Back out, the vehicle drove away leaving Keith confused._

_A second chance? He never got those, at least not on Earth._

"I like him," _Yorak spoke_. "You should go."

_Summoning his sparrow, Keith swung on. "We'll see. I'm not sure I trust people from Earth, least of all Garrison."_

"Are…are they gonna be ok?" Hunk asked dragging the Guardian out of his memories.

"Only time will tell if these bodies accept Shiro's consciousness," Allura spoke.

"Which Shiro?"

"Original. The Clone is stable, just recovering," Kol spoke.

"We really need to come up with a new name for him," Lance sighed. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I've tried contacting the Voltron Coalition, but I can't get through to anyone. It doesn't make sense," Pidge replied. "There might be some distortion I'm not picking up on."

"If there is, it's not from the natural area," Wren spoke. "According to my ghost, signals are fine, but we're out of range from the Guardian lines. It might be likely that the result of repairing reality somehow damaged or altered our means of communication."

"Even then, the lions aren'y going anywhere without recharging their power cores."

"The battle with Lotor severely depleted them," Allura confirmed. "If we had the Castle of Lions we could recharge them, but…" she trailed off.

"Is there another way to recharge them?" Jaz asked.

"Maybe we could try funnelling some of our own quintessence into them," Skylar suggested. "We do produce unlimited amounts."

"Sky, ours is mostly weaponized, remember," Silyna reminded. "And I don't know how it'd react with the magic obviously used to make them."

"They're right, the result of that could be an explosion," Coran confirmed tugging on his mustache. "They can recharge given enough time and ambient energy, but that might take pheobs."

"There has to be something we can do."

"Well, we are on the Dalterian Belt, home to element faunatonium," Coran supplied. "We could use it as a temporary solution."

"Faunatonium? How will that charge the power cores?" Lance questioned.

"Well, it involves gluon field fluctuations—"

"You know what? Never mind. It's magic or something," Lance cut him off.

"Not far off. We're going to use the element to expand the energy particles within the cores. But first, we're gonna need a yalmor."

The new Guardians looked at each other, "What's a yalmor?"

"Wait, there are yalmors on this planet?" Hunk asked.

"How do you think we find the faunatonium? Yalmors have a nose for the stuff."

"Alright," Keith nodded. "You guys find a yalmor and get this faunatonium stuff. I'll stay with Shiro and…Shiro Two."

"Allura and I will stay too," Jaz said. "Healing magic isn't my specialty, but I can do what I can."

"I may've exhausted the limits of what I learned on Oriande, but I still might be able to help in some way," Allura agreed.

"Wren and I can keep the systems running," Kol nodded.

"Then we'll get started," Tarin nodded. They turned on their heels, starting to walk out of the Black Lion when Romelle spoke up.

"Wait…you just fought Lotor, defeated him, stopped an explosion that could've destroyed reality, took your friends consciousness from the Black Lion and put it in a clone body while putting the clone's consciousness in another clone body, and now we're simply moving on?"

"Sums it up," Silyna smiled.

"Trust me, I'm always saying that, but these guys like to move on," Hunk sighed.

"Come on Romelle! It'll be fun!" the Fae girl grinned grabbing her arm and flying out the door.

"He's going to be all right Keith," Jaz reassured putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know it."

"I hope so, you can't imagine all he's done for me."

"I think I can."

_Keith stood looking at one of the shuttles, waiting for Officer Shirogane to arrive like he said he would. Crossing his arms, the boy sighed. Why did he even come? Just because the man said he owed him? Keith's owed lots of people who didn't deserve it. Yet for some reason, he still came._

_"That's the Calypso, the first ship to carry astronauts to the moons of Jupiter," a familiar voice spoke._

_Glancing to his side, Keith was almost surprised to Shiro standing there. "It took them three years to get there. Longest voyage of its kind."_

_The man gave a soft chuckle, "That's right. Reading about that mission is what made me wanna be a pilot. Those astronauts braved the unknown. People can accomplish incredible things if they put in the time and effort. I wanna help you Keith, I think you've got a lot of potential."_

_Keith turned to look at him in surprise. That was the first time in a while anyone had said that to him._

_"But what you decide to do with that potential is up to you," Shiro continued, almost quoting his father verbatum._

_"Hey Shiro I was just…" the voice trailed off and both turned to see an Awoken woman standing there. "Keith?"_

_"Jaz?"_

_"You two know each other?" Shiro asked looking between them._

-.-

"Whoa…"

"Wow."

"It's beautiful."

"Hey Sky? Doesn't this remind you of Hevno?"

"It kinda does," the Titan woman replied, grunting as Coran bumped into her rubbing his nose.

"This looks like a yalmor patch," he grimaced. Stepping back to the red flowers, he licked one of them. "Yep, yelmors definitely sprayed here."

Everyone groaned at that. "I think I'm gonna puke," Tarin gagged.

"I think we all are if he keeps doing that," Lance nodded. That caused the Galra woman to gag again and Lance pulled her long hair back as she looked like she was about to vomit.

"Thanks," she groaned.

"No prob, I used to do it for my sisters all the time," Lance smiled sympathetically. After all, cleaning long hair wasn't easy. No way was he about to let that happen to his sisters again, he'd heard the horror stories.

Coran began screeching, causing most of them to cover their ears. He stopped, much to everyone's relief, and through the brush they could hear some quitter grunts nearby. The redheaded Altean grinned, darting in its direction, causing the rest of them to follow. "There's a yalmor!" Coran whispered as they all peered over some rocks and a brush to look at…a yellow and purple anteater-looking thing with antennae.

"Wow, they're a lot uglier than I thought they'd be," Lance commented.

"I think it's cute," Pidge said. "You know, in a creepy, hideous sort of way. Kind of like you Lance."

"So how're we gonna wrangle it?" Sky questioned pulling out a lasso.

"Shh! Yalmors are extremely aggressive," Coran chided. "Any sign of weakness and they'll attack. You've got to conrner it, and make it think you're the bigger, meaner yalmor. Alfor and I used the Squelzian Technique to wrangle up some yalmors." Stepping out of the brush, Coran began…dancing in a way as he approached the odd little animal as he began releasing more screeches.

"Are all ancient Alteans like this?" Romelle asked.

"Not that I know of," Skylar muttered.

"Well we only know two," Pidge added.

They all winced in sympathy as the yalmor smacked Coran, causing the man to jump in surprise into Hunk's arms. In response, Hunk stumbled under the new weight and ran into Lance. The Blue Paladin lost his balance, falling into a branch covered in sharp thorns. Yelping, he leapt away, landing face-first on the ground in front of a small elephant-turtle thing.

"OW!" Lance exclaimed rubbing his behind as he sat up. Seeing something move, he spotted the little creature. "Oh, hi there little fella!"

The small animal gave a squeak before suddenly it sprayed multicolored smoke everywhere around them.

When the smoke cleared, they were standing in a forest of grass, the trees towering even higher than they had been before.

"What the quizacker just happened?"

"It's pronounced quiznack, and I have no idea."

"I think we shrunk," Tarin replied.

"Uh, what's that sound?" Hunk asked as they all felt and heard massive thuds coming towards them. "Lance, what did you do?!"

"Nothing! I just bumped into—"

"What's that?" Coran cut him off as massive shadow covered all of them. A roar came from above and they all paled as the yalmor towered above them. "It's the yalmor!"

"Shit!"

-.-

"His levels are getting dangerously low," Allura frowned.

"Think there might be a way to stabilize him?" Jaz inquired.

"Not that I know of. But there has to be a way."

While they talked, Keith leaned over Shiro's pod, biting the inside of his cheek. He just got his brother back, he couldn't lose him again. "Come on Shiro. Fight. I'm not giving up on you."

_/Bank right and maintain heading at 0.27 degrees/ Shiro's voice ordered over the intercoms. /Increase throttle by thirty-five percent and bank left/_

_Adjusting the controls Keith yawned. Traveler this was soo boring. What'd he give for a little excitement. At least training back home was interesting, it seemed like the people of Earth made it their mission to make everything involving learning as boring as possible._

_/Increase elevation fifteen degrees/_

_/Oh I'm getting dizzy/ a boy from one of the other simulators moaned. /I knew I shouldn't have eaten so much. Ugh, make it stop/_

_Keith grimaced as he felt the craft of the likely sick cadet bump into his. Seriously, did he just let go of the controls? He could kill somebody if this was real. Hitting the thrusters, he pulled his ship forwards before decelerating and rounding back to his spot._

_/Fall in line cadet!/ Iverson snarled._

_"Sorry, just testing my controls. Stick's loose," he replied._

_/Keep this up and you'll be stuck as a cargo pilot!/_

_/Yeah Keith! You're gonna get us in trouble!/ James snapped._

_Keith bristled. Seriously? They all just almost crashed because someone couldn't hold their lunch and he kept that from happening by breaking flank. And now they were blaming him?_

_/Decrease elevation by twenty-two degrees/_

_Screw it. If they wanted something to blame him for, he'd give them something. Keith thrust the engines and shot down away from the others._

_/KEITH!/_

-.-

_"Hope you all like it in the simulator," Iverson spoke as he stomped in front of them, "You can thank pilot fancypants over there for the privilege of spending the next three weekends in here running drills!" The man spat the last part in his face, and Keith allowed his eyes to glow in warning. Flinching, Iverson backed off the angry Guardian. Good, he needed to be reminded who really was the highest ranking here._

_"Thanks a lot," Griffin growled._

_"My pleasure."_

_The other boy scoffed, "We all know the only reason you're here is because of Shiro."_

_Keith rolled his eyes, "I can outfly anyone in this building. Not my fault you aren't as good as I am. What did you get on the entrance exam again? Level three?"_

_"You cheated!" James snarled whirling on him._

_"We both know I didn't. Not my fault I'm better than you," he scoffed. "Some people can't take losing."_

_"You are an arrogant ass! You know that! Bet that's why your mommy and daddy left you!"_

_There was a sickening crack as Keith's fist slammed into Griffin's jaw. Spittle and blood flew out of the boy's mouth as he collapsed to the ground, and he grunted as Keith landed on top of him. Glaring up at his attacker, he paled. The other boy's eyes were glowing almost bright violet as he glared down at him._

_"HEY BREAK IT UP!" Iverson exclaimed as he tackled Keith off him. The man grunted and stumbled back from the boy, covering his eye as blood trickled between his fingers._

_"Keith!" a voice called and the boy froze as Jaz ran over._

-.-

_"Skoros sia ao otāpagon [What were you thinking]?" Jaz scolded sitting next to Keith ignoring the odd look the other cadet gave her._

_"Ziry ossylfad Möna [He insulted Pop]," Keith answered clenching his fists. "Ziry sepār kostagon daor gūrogon se fact bona syt istin isse zȳhon ābrar, issa daor se sȳrje [He just can't take the fact that for once in his life, he isn't the best]!"_

_Jaz sighed, resting her elbows on her knees. "Skoros gōntan ziry ivestragon nūmāzma aōha kepa [What did he say about your father]?_

_"Vestas ziry abasdesad nyke [He said he abandoned me]."_

_Keith sagged a bit in relief when Jaz clenched her fist at that. "Ao gīmigon ziry gōntan daor [You know he didn't]."_

_"Nyke sepār jaelagon īlen arlī lenton [I know. I just wish I was back home]."_

_"Nyke moss ziry tolī [I miss it too]."_

_"Understood. I'll handle it," he heard Shiro's muffled voice come through the office causing their conversation to end. The door slid open and Griffin got up, storming past Shiro as he stepped out of the office. "Hey."_

_"Look, I know I messed up," Keith ground out, looking down. "You should just send me back to the home already. This place isn't for me."_

_"Keith!" Jaz scolded._

_Shiro sighed kneeling next to him, "You can do this. Jaz and I will never give up on you. But more importantly, you can't give up on yourself."_

_The teen looked up at him, "You don't even know me."_

_"You're right, I don't," Shiro said standing up. "But sometimes we all need a hand."_

-.-

"ADVENTURES ARE NOT FUN!" Romelle screamed as they all ran from the yalmor.

"THANK YOU! THAT'S WHAT I'M ALWAYS SAYING!"

"WATER!" Sil called flying up into the air, out of reach as the droplets crashed down around those on the ground.

The yalmor gave a grunt, swinging it's trunk and swiping through the fauna, tearing it up. "WATCH OUT FOR THAT GRASS!" Coran screeched.

"WE'RE NOT RUNNING FAST ENOUGH!"

"I got ya!" Silyna called flying under the falling blade and tacking the two paladins out of the way.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"We're trapped!" Romelle exclaimed.

Skylar pulled a grenade launcher off her back, loading it as Silyna grabbed a pulse rifle, "Get behind us!"

The yalmor began approaching, and the girls opened fired on it. The beast gave a surprised lurch of pain, before it started its approach again. Tarin ran forwards, thowing lightning from her hand. However, instead of harming the creature, it looked merely more fluffy and angrier.

"Oops."

Looking around, Lance's gaze landed on something above them. Pulling out his gun, he fired up at the nut. The blade hit the stem connecting it to the tree and it fell to the ground, landed on the yalmor's head.

With a pained yelp, the yalmor turned on its heels, splashing in a puddle of water as it made its retreat. The resulting wave covered the group with water and nearly drowned them.

"Nice shooting Lance," Sil said wringing her cloak.

"Thanks," he groaned.

"Who's not dead? Sound off," Tarin moaned as she sat up.

"Ugh."

"Here."

"I'm soaked."

"Keith? Do you copy?" Pidge asked activating her commlink. "Allura? Krolia? Anyone?"

"Not getting responses from Kol or Wren either," Skylar spoke up.

Pidge nodded, "The miniaturization must've caused our communications range to drop exponentially. Nothing's getting through."

"We're so small, it'll take us forever to get back to the rest of the crew," Coran whined.

"What're we going to do?" Romelle began to panic.

"Simple," Skylar said crossing her arms. "Come up with a plan. If something on this planet could shrink us, then there has to be something that can unshrink us."

-.-

_"COME ON! CATCH UP!" Shiro called as his racer flew ahead of Keith's own._

_Gritting his teeth, the young guardian pushed the throttle forwards, shooting past the older man. Smirking, he wove around a boulder before gaping as he was passed up again. With a laugh, he followed the older man over the jump across the ravine, landing on another path._

"KEITH! CLIFF!" _Yorak screeched._

_Startled, he slammed on the breaks watching in horror as Shiro went over. Only, he didn't crash. As the man fell, he pulled on the controls, allowing the thrusters to gain lift and allow him to speed off into the desert._

_Lifting up his goggles, Keith gaped. "Wow. Really Yorak?"_

"Sorry."

_"Come on, let's catch up," he rolled his eyes turning his bike around to find a path down._

_It was almost sunset when he finally caught up to Shiro and he couldn't help but laugh. "All right, you win this round, but I'll get you in the next race old timer."_

_Shiro gave his own chuckle, crossing his arms. "I don't doubt it."_

_"How'd you do that dive anyways?"_

_"You like that one huh? It's all about timing," he began to explain, "Pull up too soon and you won't have the momentum you need to create lift. Too late, and there won't be enough light to avoid the crash."_

_"You think I'm ready to try that?"_

_Shiro smirked, "What do you think?"_

_Keith pondered. He knew he could do it. Sure he'd probably mess up the first few times, but he'd eventually get it. Glancing to the man on his left, he kept himself from giving his immediate response. Yes, he would mess up, but he was immortal, death didn't mean much to him. But to Shiro…that would hurt him, no, it might wreck him if he thought he died trying to pull one of his tricks. "Maybe I should be patient and keep focusing on the basics first," he answered._

_Shiro gave an amost proud smile. "Ah you're learning. So, you grew up out here?" he inquired._

_"Yep," Keith nodded leaning back, "just me and my pop."_

_"He was…he was a fireman right?"_

_"Yeah," Keith nodded a small smile crossing his face, "He's a real hero. Everyone told him not to go back into the building. But you can't ever tell him what to do."_

_p"Sounds like someone I know," Shiro chuckled._

_Keith heard a fait beeping and he turned as Shiro fiddled with something on his wrist. "What're those?"_

_Shiro looked almost nervous as he looked at him, "Oh…theses are just some electrostimulators to keep my muscles loose."_

_That made him stand up, "What's wrong with your muscles?"_

_"Ah nothing," Shiro reassured climbing back onto his bike. "Just what happens when you get to be an old-timer. Come on, we should get back to base."_

_As the engine started, Keith walked back towards his own bike. Glancing back at Shiro, he looked down. Why did it feel like Shiro was lying?_

-.-

"What of we're this quizacking small forever?" Romelle groaned.

"It's quiznaking, "Hunk corrected draining his boots, "And yes Romelle, what if?"

"There has to be a way," Skylar stated pacing.

"Coran, you said the faunatonium works with gluon field fluctuations?" Pidge inquired.

"Correct, it expands atomic distance."

"You didn't think to tell us that earlier?" the Titan woman deadpanned. "That could make us bigger."

"That's what I was thinking," Pidge smirked.

"You might be onto something."

"How're we going to find this stuff?" Lance asked.

"With a yalmor!" Coran exclaimed pulling on his mustache. "We'll lure one back here!"

"Lure a yalmor? To us? Like this?" Romelle motioned.

"If you're expecting me to do magic, that's not gonna work right now," Tarin grimaced.

"Don't worry. It'll be incredibly dangerous, and Hunk's our only hope!"

"Huh?"

-.-

_"Absolutely not!" Sanda's voice snapped from the other side of the door._

_"Why not? He's cleared all his physicals."_

_"I don't care what the doctor says! This man is sick and he shouldn't be sent on another mission. Especially one as far away as Kerberos. I have to report this to Flight Command."_

_"Are you kidding me? Shiro's the best pilot there is!" Jaz snapped._

_"Jaz is right," Commander Holt agreed. "He's saved my bacon in deep space more times than I can count. If he doesn't go on this mission, then neither do I."_

_"And you could consider yourself having to find a new copilot from the Reef to continue our people's cooperation! Which I guarantee will be much harder than it was recruiting me."_

_"Are you threatening me?" Sanda snarled._

_"Was I not being clear?" Jaz deadpanned._

_"Outside, Keith narrowed his eyes, putting the pieces together. So his hunch was right, Shiro was lying about being sick. Retreating back into the hall he waited till the Admiral passed. "Keith?"_

_"Darvah," he said grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him back._

_"Uh, what are we doing nukruu?"_

_"Sanda's trying to get rid of Shiro and you're going to help me stop her."_

_"Sounds fun."_

_They heard footsteps walking towards them and the woman turned the corner, her grey eyes widened as she spotted them._

_"Remember me?" Keith scowled crossing his arms. "You know, the Guardian Kiin you promised to take care of for my father, Captain Kogane? Your superior?"_

_"Listen here you little brat—"_

_"No! I'm going to talk, and you are going to shut up and listen. Otherwise Pop will hear all about how you broke your promise," he reminded and the woman's mouth snapped shut. Her gaze snapped to Darvah and he shrugged._

_"What? You think I'm gonna go against one of my best friends? Not likely. Especially since I don't like you."_

-.-

_"That was a pain," Jaz groaned as she and Shiro walked into the lounge._

_"No kidding," Shiro huffed flopping on the couch._

_"Is everything ok?" Adam asked looking between the Awoken woman and his fiancé._

_"Does it sound like it?" Jaz drawled pouring a cup of coffee before scrounging from creamer._

_"No?"_

_"Iverson thinks I shouldn't be part of the mission," Shiro supplied rubbing his wrists. "Called in the big guns, Admiral Sanda showed up and tried to convince Sam to remove me from the crew."_

_"Well maybe he's right. Maybe you shouldn't go on the mission," Adam said. "You'll only be putting yourself at risk."_

_"You know how important this is to me. It's worth the risk!" Shiro argued._

_Adam slammed his mug down on its coaster. "Takashi, how important am I to you? Every mission, every drill, I've been right there with you."_

_"Adam!" Jaz scolded._

_"This is more than a mission Jaz! His life is at stake!"_

_"Ugh, don't start that again Adam, you don't need to protect me!" Shiro scoffed. "This is something I need to do for myself."_

_"There's nothing left for you to prove. You've broken every record there is to break," Adam continued. "I know I can't stop you, but I won't go through this again. So if you decide to go, don't expect me to be here when you get back. I have a class to teach." _

_Adam reached for his bag only to have it snatched away by Jaz. "Excuse me, but I think you owe your boyfriend an apology."_

_"Jaz!" he growled._

_"No, Adam! Shiro's supported you through all your dreams, why can't you do the same for him? Why can't you let him have this last mission?"_

_"You know why!"_

_"We gave you the option to come with! You two lovebirds would've had plenty of alone time," she smirked as they blushed. "And yet, here you are, not going."_

_"Jaz," Shiro spoke up. _

_With a huff, the Awoken woman tossed Adam his bag. "Fine. For your sake Shiro, I will not rip your boy-toy a new one."_

_"Jaz!"_

-.-

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Romelle exclaimed as they lowered the rope with Hunk tied to it.

"YOU CAN'T BELIEVE IT? I'M LITERAL BAIT!"

"Hey, you aren't alone down here," Silyna said.

"You have wings! You can fly!" he replied. "HOW COULD I POSSIBLY LET THIS HAPPEN?!"

"I told you Hunk, you're the biggest meal and you scream the loudest!" Coran answered.

"I DON'T CARE—" Hunk squeaked, covering his mouth a roar came from the brush. Looking forwards, the Yellow Paladin paled as he saw a yalmor approaching.

"Now keep up that panicked yelling! That's what we need to attract the yalmor."

"SERIOUSLY GUYS!"

The yalmor got in front of them, opening its maw widely. Silyna grinned, swopping down and grabbing Hunk as the others ran over the other side of the branch, leaping down on the yalmor. The others released the rope, and suddenly the duo went crashing into the yalmor's back.

"This is going well," Romelle said.

"At least you had something to break your landing," Sil muttered.

"EVERYONE HOLD ON!" Tarin shouted as the yalmor sniffed the air. Grabbing onto strands of hair, they all screamed as it started running.

-.-

_"When were you going to tell me?!" Keith demanded as he approached Shiro._

_The man stood straight from where he was working on his bike, looking surprised to see him there. "Oh, hey Keith?"_

_"So what is it? Are you sick or something?" he pressed shoving his hands in his pockets._

_"I'm not sure I follow."_

_"I was outside your office," he stated, "I overheard you, Jaz, and Commander Holt talking with Admiral Sand-for-brains. Tell me the truth. What's going on? I'm not a little kid, I can handle it."_

_Shiro looked away, before giving a deep sigh, "I…have a disease and it's getting worse. I'll only be able to maintain my peak condition for a couple more years. After that…" Shiro turned resting his hands on the side of the bike. "The Garrison doesn't want me up there. Neither does Adam."_

_"Oh," Keith relaxed crossing his arms. "Is there a cure?"_

_"No."_

_"Not even with the Awoken or Fallen?" he inquired._

_Shiro turned to look at him, a sad smile crossing his face. "Trust me, there isn't."_

_"That…must be hard," Keith said, "knowing you'll die."_

_"I've always known. It's just I wish people would stop treating me like I'm made of glass!" Shiro growled slamming his fist on the side of the vehicle. "It's my life. I should live it how I want to before…"_

_"I get it," Keith said. "My…family, always felt the same way. We know death is always there, but we kind of always…I dunno, guessed we believed that it wasn't the end?"_

_"So you believe in an afterlife?"_

_"I guess?" Keith shrugged._

_Shiro chuckled quietly, "Sounds better than nothing at least."_

_"Yeah…" Keith sighed. "So, what are you going to do?"_

_"I'm going on the mission."_

-.-

"THIS IS WORSE THAN BEING BAIT!" Hunk screamed.

"YES! AT LEAST THEN YOU AND SIL WERE THE ONLY ONES IN DANGER!"

"HEY! ROMELLE!"

The yalmor skid to a stop, nearly flinging all of them off as it began clawing at the ground. Pinkish droplets began to rise up and the yalmor lifted its head, releasing a cry.

All around them the bushes rumbled and more yalmors began approaching.

"What's going on?" Pidge questioned.

"More yalmors! If they link at the ears then we're sitting on a faunatonium wizplute!" Coran exclaimed standing up. The other yalmors pawed at the ground, their ears moving closer to one another. Raising their trunks, the pack gave a cry as their ears linked. "Whoo hoo! Yalmor time! Pay attention! This is how you work together!"

"Who cares? Let's go!" Tarin exclaimed rushing forwards.

"Wait?"

"What?"

"She's right," Pidge said. "If we wanna get back to our regular size we have to jump in there!"

"Don't need to tell me twice," Silyna grinned flying past them as Coran, Skylar, Pidge, and Lance started sliding down the yalmor's trunk.

"Are we actually going to do this?" Romelle inquired.

"Unless you want to spend the rest of your tiny life on the back of a yalmor," Hunk reminded running past her.

At the thought, the blonde panicked. "Wait for me!"

Sliding down the truck, the group flew off into the air. Individually, they all started landed in faunatonium droplets. And before they knew it, they were all back to normal size.

"Ugh, quiznak."

"My back."

"Let's never do that again."

-.-

"He's up!" Wren called.

All heads turned and they saw the clone sitting up in his pod, rubbing his white hair. "Ugh, what happened…Keith?!" the clone turned, looking panicked before his gaze landed on him. Visibly relaxing, Shiro's clone smiled. "You're alive, I thought…I thought I…" he trailed off, looking at the other pod. "So it wasn't a dream?"

"What wasn't?" Jaz asked.

"I…I had a dream. Like I was being disconnected from my body. And I—I kept hearing voices. Haggar, my own…and the facility…" he looked at his attached arm. "I'm…I'm a clone, aren't I? I was never the real Shiro."

"That may be," Allura spoke, "but you're still our friend. We fought side by side."

"How are you taking this so easily? After everything that happened? I—I'm not Shiro! I'm just a copy! A fake! Made by the witch to destroy all of you! It was my fault Lotor had the drop on us, if it was—"

"HEY!" Keith snapped silencing him. "Lotor tricked all of us. And we had no reason to suspect you were a clone. Yes, you may not be Takashi, but you still are our friend."

"Though we really need to find you a name," Kol muttered.

"I know Iverson used to purposely mess up Shiro's name and call him Takeshi," Jaz offered.

"Isn't that the same?" Keith asked.

"Tak_a_shi basically means noble or honorable," the clone spoke. "Tak_e_shi means warrior."

"See, there's a difference," Wren smiled. "I like Takeshi. And once we get OG Shiro a new arm, with some make up, you two could totally pull the twin thing. Be even better cause your names are so close. And this way you won't have to learn a new name!"

"He's got a point," Jaz tapped her chin. "That do you think?"

The clone bit the inside of his cheek "Uh…I guess it works?"

"Awesome!"

"We have a problem," Allura spoke up regaining all of their attentions, "I'm afraid the clone body's rejecting Shiro's consciousness."

"What?"

"There must be some way you can help!" Keith demanded.

"Keith…" Jaz said resting a hand on his shoulder. "We've done all we can."

Growling, Keith slammed his fist on the outside of the pod. "Shiro! Please! Fight! You can't do this to me again."

"If he knows what's good for him he better not," Takeshi muttered.

The pod beeped and opened. Inside, Shiro coughed, "Keith? I was dreaming, Keith…you saved me."

Keith bent down, hugging his older brother, "We saved each other." Helping him, sit up, the white-haired man blinked at his almost mirror image sitting across from him.

"Uh…am I—"

"Uh…I'm your clone?" the other smiled sheepishly. "It's a long story."

"Hey! Shiro and his clone are looking better!" Lance exclaimed as everyone else ran in. "All right!"

"Where were you guys? We couldn't get ahold of you," Kol said crossing his arms.

"Well, we were shrunk by a magic skunk, but we ended up using that sparkly dust that makes electricity bigger or whatever and used it to unshrink ourselves. So, ready to charge up the lion?"

Shiro chuckled, "It's good to be back."

"It's good to have you back," Lance grinned. "Oh! You!" he pointed to the clone. "We need a name for you! Remember how in Monsters in Mana you had this back up character—what was his name—oh yeah! Jiro! That could be it!"

The clone bit his lip, glancing nervously at the original. "Well…we kinda already chose Takeshi," he murmured wincing as he saw the other one gave him a glare. "But I can go by Jiro if that's easier."

**A/N: hey y'all! Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter! Now, I know I made young Keith seem kinda like an ass, and I had my reasons for it: mostly I figured since he came from an advanced society where Guardians are almost looked to as gods…yeah, he'd have some arrogance issues. Anyways, let me know what y'all think of my decision to keep the clone alive. See y'all next chapter!**


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